Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Price Target to $9.00

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $13.00 to $9.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.35% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, 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, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of WBA traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.88. The stock had a trading volume of 6,100,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,436,109. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.07. The firm has a market cap of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after buying an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $68,046,000 after acquiring an additional 817,762 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $62,325,000 after buying an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,200,000 after buying an additional 80,525 shares in the last quarter. 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.