Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 55,808,044 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 216% from the previous session’s volume of 17,652,389 shares.The stock last traded at $10.66 and had previously closed at $8.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Four equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 17.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.84.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 15,340 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by 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.