Wolfe Research Upgrades Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) to Hold

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WBA. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 5.2 %

WBA stock opened at $11.38 on Monday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $22.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $10.41 and its 200 day moving average is $9.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.11, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.64.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after buying an additional 190,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 595,828 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,559,000 after buying an additional 185,762 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 64,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sasco Capital Inc. CT lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% in the third quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,331,000 after purchasing an additional 124,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.