Analysts Set Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) PT at $12.58

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.58.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $68,046,000 after acquiring an additional 817,762 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $62,325,000 after acquiring an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,200,000 after acquiring an additional 80,525 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $9.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of -0.96, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

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.