Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Up 3.5%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was up 3.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $9.15 and last traded at $9.15. Approximately 2,873,423 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 16,003,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 3.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.55 and its 200-day moving average is $15.27. The company has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of -1.36, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.70.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the 1st 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 period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,992,648 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,028,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,816,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter worth about $16,365,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.