Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Up 3.5%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price rose 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $12.67 and last traded at $12.62. Approximately 17,238,873 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 22% from the average daily volume of 14,099,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.64.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm 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 issued 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 $0.67 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.23%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,494 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $333,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 115,196 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 280,545 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,325,000 after purchasing an additional 78,523 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.