Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Down 2.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares traded down 2.5% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $12.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $11.26 and last traded at $11.28. 8,255,778 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 14,606,245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.57.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on WBA. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. SVB Leerink lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Highlander Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,241.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 4.1 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.23 and a 200 day moving average of $19.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

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.