Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 77,330,000 shares, a decrease of 19.9% from the December 15th total of 96,530,000 shares. Currently, 10.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 24,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.04.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. First Financial Corp IN increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,208 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock opened at $12.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.36 and its 200 day moving average is $9.81. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $23.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.98%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.77%.

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.