Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Down 0.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $13.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $11.40 and last traded at $11.56. Approximately 6,279,908 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 14,500,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.58.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.07.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Highlander Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of -1.72, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.14.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

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.