Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Up 0.9%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares were up 0.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.07 and last traded at $9.05. Approximately 5,101,347 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 15,817,513 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.19.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.82 and a 200 day moving average of $15.73. The company has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of -1.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.70.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after purchasing an additional 10,612,373 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $170,233,000 after acquiring an additional 613,847 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $72,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992,648 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,484 shares during the period. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,028,000. 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.