Bank of America Cuts Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Price Target to $22.00

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price objective reduced by Bank of America from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

WBA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. SVB Leerink decreased their price target 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. Finally, HSBC restated a reduce rating and set a $20.00 price target (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, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 3.2 %

WBA stock opened at $21.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.28. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a twelve month low of $19.68 and a twelve month high of $36.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 0.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,171,654.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.5% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 29,409 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 36.2% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,170,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $48,269,000 after buying an additional 576,534 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 129,191 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after acquiring an additional 28,400 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,444,686 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,130,000 after acquiring an additional 47,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 66,949,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,907,403,000 after acquiring an additional 3,543,790 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.