Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading 6.3% Higher (2024)

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) traded up 6.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $16.17 and last traded at $16.11. 19,148,786 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 53% from the average session volume of 12,492,978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WBA shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. SVB Leerink reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.57.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 6.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $16.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.78.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $279,876,000 after buying an additional 1,720,228 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,816,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,985.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,546 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $23,226,000 after buying an additional 846,884 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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