Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Down 0.8%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) shares traded down 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $15.47 and last traded at $15.58. 2,002,296 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 13,009,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. SVB Leerink lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.07.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of -2.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.39%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.