Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $10.60, but opened at $11.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $11.40, with a volume of 23,298,319 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Financial Corp IN lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently 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.