Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $10.42, but opened at $9.96. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $10.15, with a volume of 4,940,020 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 6.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after buying an additional 6,569,223 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $68,046,000 after purchasing an additional 817,762 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $62,325,000 after buying an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,200,000 after buying an additional 80,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.