Leerink Partnrs Has Bullish Estimate for WBA Q2 Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) – Stock analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the pharmacy operator will post earnings per share of $0.49 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.47. The consensus estimate for Walgreens Boots Alliance’s current full-year earnings is $1.53 per share.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WBA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA opened at $9.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.95, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.34 and a 200 day moving average of $10.55. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.47%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. State Street Corp boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% in the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at about $24,226,000. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth about $31,028,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.