Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 144,245 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 152% compared to the typical daily volume of 57,147 call options.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 20.5 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $1.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.66. The company had a trading volume of 55,808,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,652,389. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.07, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $27.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.84.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.38%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the second quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.6% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 15,340 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,690 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.58.

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.