Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 1.7%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price rose 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.29 and last traded at $9.16. Approximately 3,027,060 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 16,037,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WBA. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.77.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.48%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% during the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 11,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.1% during the first quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,335 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the period. 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.