Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $9.00, but opened at $9.60. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $10.20, with a volume of 24,022,260 shares changing hands.

The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.54.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WBA. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the second 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 period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.4% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the second 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 period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 6.2 %

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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.22. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of -1.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.70.

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.