Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 6.9% – Should You Buy?

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price rose 6.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.10 and last traded at $10.97. Approximately 13,145,315 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 19,749,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WBA. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.71.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. abrdn plc grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 351,288 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,181,000 after acquiring an additional 23,751 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth approximately $111,000. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 94.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,090 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,581 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 56.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,831 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.