Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 77,330,000 shares, a decline of 19.9% from the December 15th total of 96,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 10.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.53. 24,060,334 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,566,070. The business's 50 day moving average is $9.36 and its 200-day moving average is $9.81. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $23.76. The company has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is -9.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,757 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WBA. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.04.

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.