Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $9.22, but opened at $10.60. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $11.56, with a volume of 26,878,129 shares changing hands.

The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 35.1% in the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 4,562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.8% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 33,916 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 27.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.17, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.89.

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.