Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Reaches New 12-Month Low at $17.24

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $17.24 and last traded at $17.26, with a volume of 11426019 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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 note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, SVB Leerink decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $19.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.56.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The company's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after acquiring an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $481,694,000 after buying an additional 4,163,317 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $378,668,000 after buying an additional 3,013,807 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $279,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,816,000. 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.

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