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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm issued a hold rating on the pharmacy operator's stock.

WBA has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA traded up $0.11 on Tuesday, reaching $11.29. The company had a trading volume of 5,903,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,003,968. The stock has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $18.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $11.02 and its 200 day moving average is $10.34.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 595,828 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 185,762 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2,599.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 622,703 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $5,810,000 after purchasing an additional 599,637 shares during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 507,213 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $4,732,000 after purchasing an additional 23,373 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.