Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.200-3.350 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 3.240. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Walgreens Boots Alliance also updated its FY24 guidance to $3.20-3.35 EPS.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $21.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.72 and a 200-day moving average of $22.28. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a one year low of $19.68 and a one year high of $36.58. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 note on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, SVB Leerink dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 585,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,171,654.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $311,053,000 after acquiring an additional 8,315,989 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,356,393 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $192,076,000 after acquiring an additional 710,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,132,750 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $229,794,000 after acquiring an additional 358,403 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is 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.