Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its target price upped by Evercore ISI from $9.00 to $12.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on WBA. Barclays increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.81.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.90 on Monday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $23.76. The firm has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of -1.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,444.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 14,455 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.1% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 210,200 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 147,305 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after acquiring an additional 5,636 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at about $164,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 391,684.6% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,932 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 50,919 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.