Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.27.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 4.6 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.86 and a 200 day moving average of $9.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $23.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.11, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after buying an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% during 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 worth $68,046,000 after buying an additional 817,762 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the 3rd 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 grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,200,000 after acquiring an additional 80,525 shares during the period. 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.