Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Down 5.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) fell 5.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $14.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $9.84 and last traded at $9.86. 10,648,625 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 17,130,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.45.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WBA. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.21.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 412.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 58,261 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,889 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 81.9% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,024 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.4% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 52,166 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 7,738 shares during the period. Finally, G&S Capital LLC raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.5% in the first quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 29,148 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 6.9 %

The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of -1.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.93.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.