Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 3.5%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price was up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $12.67 and last traded at $12.62. Approximately 17,238,873 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 22% from the average daily volume of 14,099,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WBA shares. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.64.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.17.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.27%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 268.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 184,722 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,108,000 after purchasing an additional 134,587 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 39.2% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 75,776 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 21,352 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 44.7% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 23,072 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,132 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 323,817 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 106.5% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 49,720 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a healthcare, pharmacy, and retail company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Retail Pharmacy, International, and U.S. Healthcare. The U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment engages in operation of the retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty, and home delivery pharmacy services, which offers health and wellness, beauty, personal care and consumables, and general merchandise.