Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Lowered to Sell Rating by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $9.00 price objective on the pharmacy operator’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $11.00.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on WBA. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $10.69 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of -1.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $22.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 64,586 shares during the period. Finally, Sasco Capital Inc. CT boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,331,000 after acquiring an additional 124,950 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.