Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.27.

WBA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $11.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.88. The firm has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of -1.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $23.76.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Financial Corp IN grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.