Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $12.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $11.34 and last traded at $11.38, with a volume of 3330032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.57.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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 report on Monday, June 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 939,006 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $20,480,000 after purchasing an additional 18,517 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.7% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 15,761 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,904 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,331,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.5% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 475,403 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $10,573,000 after acquiring an additional 7,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 307,069 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,834,000 after buying an additional 12,543 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 4.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.95. The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of -1.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile

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.