Brokerages Set Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Target Price at $16.86

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.86.

Several research firms have commented on WBA. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $10.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of -1.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $10.62 and a 1 year high of $30.15.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,494 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $333,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $3,008,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $297,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $7,325,000 after buying an additional 78,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.