Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Down 4.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) dropped 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday 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 $11.10 and last traded at $11.10. Approximately 26,845,517 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 29% from the average daily volume of 20,813,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.57.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. SVB Leerink decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of 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. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Highlander Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased 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 during the period. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 4.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.89.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

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

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.