Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Down 0.3%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s stock price dropped 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.29 and last traded at $11.40. Approximately 3,391,214 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 14,996,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.71.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.32. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.69, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released 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). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.69%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 255,757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,688,000 after buying an additional 17,422 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,170,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $48,269,000 after purchasing an additional 576,534 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 11.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 88,903 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after buying an additional 8,798 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 34.0% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 42,485 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 10,779 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during 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 buying an additional 10,962,030 shares during the period. 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.