Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.59.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC raised 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.09, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $16.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $11.02 and its 200 day moving average is $10.43.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (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 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%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.