Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) in a research report released on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.37 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $18.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.03 and a 200-day moving average of $10.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $326,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2,599.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $322,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 507,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,732,000 after buying an additional 23,373 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.