Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.22, but opened at $10.60. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $11.56, with a volume of 26,878,129 shares.

The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WBA. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. State Street Corp increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $68,046,000 after purchasing an additional 817,762 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $62,325,000 after acquiring an additional 934,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,200,000 after purchasing an additional 80,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of -1.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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.