Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.36.

WBA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and set a $20.00 price objective (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. SVB Leerink dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.7% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 88,903 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 44,826 shares during the last quarter. Avenir Corp increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% in the first quarter. Avenir Corp now owns 385,382 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $8,359,000 after buying an additional 26,110 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 115,332 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,304 shares during the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter worth about $228,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 141.8% in the 1st quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 169,502 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,676,000 after acquiring an additional 99,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.45 on Thursday, hitting $18.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,252,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,118,831. The company has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $17.12 and a 1 year high of $32.89.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.