Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Price Target Raised to $8.50 at Bank of America

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Bank of America from $7.50 to $8.50 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 30.56% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WBA. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen dropped 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.81.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $12.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.22, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.36 and a 200-day moving average of $9.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $23.76.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after buying an additional 64,586 shares during the last quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% during the third quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,331,000 after acquiring an additional 124,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 139,377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 63,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.