Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Rating Reiterated by Raymond James

Raymond James restated their market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

WBA has been the topic of several other reports. HSBC reiterated a reduce rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. SVB Leerink cut their price objective on shares of 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. TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an underweight rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $21.69 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a one year low of $19.68 and a one year high of $36.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 151.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $350,567.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,241.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.