Walgreens Boots Alliance Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 168,529 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 172% compared to the average daily volume of 61,987 call options.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA stock opened at $11.76 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.89. The company has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.17, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $24.93.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 379,029 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,584,000 after buying an additional 75,557 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 59.1% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 69,631 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 25,868 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,444.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 14,455 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth about $140,000. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 87,726 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 39,883 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on 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, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

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.