Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Given New $10.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price target upped by research analysts at UBS Group from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 3.94% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.38.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $10.41. 17,482,115 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,057,707. The company has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.41 and its 200 day moving average is $13.22. 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 $8.22 and a 12-month high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. 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 $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WBA. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the first 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. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the second 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 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,882,000 after acquiring an additional 156,484 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at $31,028,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $24,660,000 after purchasing an additional 198,891 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.