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

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.59.

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman owned 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 135.8% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,152 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares during the period. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $11.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.99. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $13.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The business 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 was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.