Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading 1.4% Higher

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) rose 1.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.94 and last traded at $8.89. Approximately 4,771,230 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 15,973,568 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WBA. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.19.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of -1.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released 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). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.