Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Sets New 12-Month Low at $17.49

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WBA shares. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter valued at about $398,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 124,250 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,763,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 47.8% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 125,260 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,786,000 after acquiring an additional 40,486 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 515,429 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $11,463,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.4% during the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 140,006 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after acquiring an additional 7,124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.