Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price objective upped by Evercore ISI from $9.00 to $12.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WBA. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.81.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $23.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.81. 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 (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.40%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.77%.

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. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,444.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 14,455 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.1% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 210,200 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 147,305 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 5,636 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter worth approximately $164,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 391,684.6% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,932 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 50,919 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.