Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Downgrades Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) to Sell

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $9.00 price objective on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $11.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s target price points to a potential downside of 15.77% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $10.69 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $22.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.