StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WBA. Bank of America lifted 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. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.87. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced 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 negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 204,979 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 11,453 shares during the period. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at $164,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 117.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 186,834 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 100,888 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at $2,821,000. Finally, Yoffe Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at $102,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by 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.