Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Rating Reiterated by Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports.

WBA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an underweight rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. SVB Leerink decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC reiterated a reduce rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $21.69 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.27. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52 week low of $19.68 and a 52 week high of $36.58. The company has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.73. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is 151.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 approximately $14,171,654.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 585,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,171,654.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 35,461 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 20,759 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 10,982 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 499 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.