Morgan Stanley Lowers Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Price Target to $9.00

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $13.00 to $9.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential downside of 25.59% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on WBA. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased 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 research report on Monday, June 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.64.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of WBA stock opened at $12.10 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $11.68 and a 12-month high of $31.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.49 and its 200 day moving average is $20.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.78.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.04). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought 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 owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the 4th 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 lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is 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.