StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Wednesday. The firm set a "hold" rating on the pharmacy operator's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $11.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $17.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at $27,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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