Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.38.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WBA shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $630,334,000 after acquiring an additional 10,612,373 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,826,000 after buying an additional 2,992,648 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,882,000 after acquiring an additional 156,484 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at about $31,028,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $24,660,000 after acquiring an additional 198,891 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $10.66 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a twelve month low of $8.22 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.58, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.41 and its 200 day moving average is $13.20.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.