Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 82,910,000 shares, a growth of 15.2% from the August 15th total of 71,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 11.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WBA shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth $31,028,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $29,816,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter valued at $16,365,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $9.02 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.48 and its 200 day moving average is $15.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.34, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a twelve month low of $8.46 and a twelve month high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.09%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

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.