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

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.59.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,036,300 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,457,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,223.1% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,582,442 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $40,016,000 after buying an additional 3,311,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $303,902,000 after buying an additional 2,631,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of -1.70, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $16.25.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.80% and a positive return on equity of 16.39%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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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