Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Sets New 1-Year Low at $17.49

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $17.49 and last traded at $17.91, with a volume of 1135772 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WBA shares. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.01 and its 200 day moving average is $21.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $15.27 billion, a PE ratio of -2.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $481,694,000 after buying an additional 4,163,317 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $378,668,000 after buying an additional 3,013,807 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $279,876,000 after buying an additional 1,720,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $170,233,000 after buying an additional 613,847 shares during 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.