Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Up 1.5% After Dividend Announcement

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) was up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $9.58 and last traded at $9.48. Approximately 5,451,770 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 17,260,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.34.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.80%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $9.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.4% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.9% in the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 99,661 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,162,000 after buying an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,093 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

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.