Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Up 0.6%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price traded up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $10.66 and last traded at $10.62. 1,260,383 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 15,532,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of 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. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.86.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of -1.65, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.