Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) PT Lowered to $12.00 at UBS Group

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $17.00 to $12.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 5.45% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WBA. Barclays decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday, June 28th. SVB Leerink lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.71.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.38. 3,330,032 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,567,459. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $11.34 and a 12-month high of $31.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.36 and its 200 day moving average is $20.05. The company has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,228 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $29,816,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,985.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,546 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $23,226,000 after purchasing an additional 846,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.