Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have given Walgreens Boots Alliance an average recommendation of "Reduce", with four sell ratings, six holds, and one buy recommendation.
• The company's stock price target among brokerages is $10.15, and it recently opened at $11.98, well below its twelve-month high of $13.25.
• Walgreens Boots Alliance reported earnings of $0.38 per share, exceeding estimates, and saw a 7.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $38.99 billion.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.15.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock remained flat at $11.98 during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.64, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.80. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $13.25. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $11.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.60.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.72 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.66% and a negative net margin of 4.07%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 135.8% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,152 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

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.