Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 1.2% – What’s Next?

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) rose 1.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.67 and last traded at $9.55. Approximately 5,234,216 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 17,257,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 2.4 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.70.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in 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 valued at $630,334,000 after purchasing an additional 10,612,373 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,028,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $24,660,000 after acquiring an additional 198,891 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.