Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Up 1.5% Following Dividend Announcement

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s stock price rose 1.5% on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $9.58 and last traded at $9.48. Approximately 5,451,770 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 17,260,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.34.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.80%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.37, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.82.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.4% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 99,661 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,093 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.