Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $3.20-3.35 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $3.24. Walgreens Boots Alliance also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 3.200-3.350 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WBA. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an underweight rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. TheStreet raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC reissued a reduce rating and set a $20.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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 Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $19.68 and a 1-year high of $36.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.28.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 151.52%.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $311,053,000 after purchasing an additional 8,315,989 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 63,406,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,192,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797,885 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 179.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,910,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $85,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,700 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,974,220 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $447,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,331 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.4% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,443,458 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $69,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,468 shares during the period. 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.