Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 1.3% Following Dividend Announcement

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s stock price rose 1.3% on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $9.54 and last traded at $9.47. Approximately 4,359,324 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 17,247,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.35.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.80%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth about $1,215,000. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $24,660,000 after purchasing an additional 198,891 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth approximately $795,000. Clifford Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 58.4% during the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 803,204 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,715,000 after purchasing an additional 296,135 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 89.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 349,464 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,580,000 after purchasing an additional 165,389 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.