Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Down 4.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price fell 4.1% on Thursday 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 $11.10 and last traded at $11.10. 26,845,517 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 29% from the average session volume of 20,813,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.57.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WBA. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut 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 report on Monday, June 24th. SVB Leerink cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highlander Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,241.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 4.1 %

The company has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of -1.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.10 and its 200-day moving average is $19.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 payout ratio is -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.