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 guidance of 3.200-3.350 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $21.02 on Thursday. 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 has a 1 year low of $19.68 and a 1 year high of $36.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.29. The company has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The business 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 revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 151.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James reissued a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an underweight rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Four research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.00.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.