Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $12.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.46, but opened at $9.95. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $9.69, with a volume of 17,331,138 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WBA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.19.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $385,258,000 after purchasing 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 third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $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 boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% during the third 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 period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $62,325,000 after purchasing an additional 934,754 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,200,000 after purchasing an additional 80,525 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of -1.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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.