Leerink Partnrs Issues Negative Outlook for WBA Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) – Leerink Partnrs cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report issued on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the pharmacy operator will post earnings of $0.34 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.40. The consensus estimate for Walgreens Boots Alliance’s current full-year earnings is $1.53 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.35 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.35 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.52 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $1.49 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $1.63 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $1.73 EPS.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.55 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $27.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.34 and its 200-day moving average is $10.55. The firm has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

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