Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $3.20-3.35 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $3.24. Walgreens Boots Alliance also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 3.200-3.350 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James reissued a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an underweight rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, SVB Leerink dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA stock opened at $21.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.28. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a fifty-two week low of $19.68 and a fifty-two week high of $36.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is 151.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $350,567.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was 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 Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.