Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WBA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $22.05. 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’s 50 day moving average is $10.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.81.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other 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.