Walgreens Boots Alliance Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 144,245 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 152% compared to the average volume of 57,147 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WBA shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 17.7 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $10.42 on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $27.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.15 and its 200 day moving average is $10.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of -1.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.66.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.60%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 321,425 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 113,242 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 46,333 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 20,450 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $130,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.3% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,587 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.