Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.38 EPS

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38, Briefing.com reports. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 0.40%. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Walgreens Boots Alliance updated its FY24 guidance to $3.20-3.35 EPS.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $21.02 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.75 and a 200 day moving average of $22.29. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $19.68 and a 12 month high of $36.58. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is presently 151.52%.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.22 per share, with a total value of $242,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at $14,171,654.84. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth acquired 10,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,171,654.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $350,567.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 104.6% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 36,922 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,752,000 after buying an additional 18,879 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.1% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 20,791 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 4,931 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 27.9% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,569 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.2% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 467,533 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $20,932,000 after buying an additional 58,184 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WBA. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile

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.