Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Price Target to $9.00

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $13.00 to $9.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $8.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.86, a PEG ratio of 1.15 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 has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently 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.