Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Down 25.1%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) dropped 25.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $11.72 and last traded at $11.73. Approximately 69,237,828 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 413% from the average daily volume of 13,499,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.07.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.33.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by 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.