Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Announces Earnings Results

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance updated its FY24 guidance to $3.20-3.35 EPS.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of WBA opened at $21.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $19.68 and a 12-month high of $36.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.29.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is 151.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $350,567.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.22 per share, with a total value of $242,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at $14,171,654.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $350,567.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 971,897 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,378,000 after acquiring an additional 26,854 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth $723,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 37,304 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 5,709 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 38,502 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 3,894 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,356,393 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $192,076,000 after buying an additional 710,807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.