Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Up 2.5%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares traded up 2.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.60 and last traded at $10.56. 3,879,922 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 15,429,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on 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, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.85.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.8 %

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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.45. The company has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $630,334,000 after acquiring an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $170,233,000 after purchasing an additional 613,847 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,882,000 after acquiring an additional 156,484 shares during the period. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,028,000. 58.59% of the stock is 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.