Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Down 2.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares traded down 2.5% 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 $11.26 and last traded at $11.28. 8,255,778 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 14,606,245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.57.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. SVB Leerink cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 4.1 %

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

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.