Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Price Target Raised to $8.50

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price target hoisted by Bank of America from $7.50 to $8.50 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WBA. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.04.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $12.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $23.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.25, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.81.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. 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 $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.98%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. First Financial Corp IN grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 250.0% during the 2nd quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.