Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 1.9% - Here's What Happened

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) traded up 1.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $9.48 and last traded at $9.44. 3,288,017 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 17,256,920 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.67. The company has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.70.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $32,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,484 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,028,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $24,660,000 after purchasing an additional 198,891 shares during the last quarter. 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.