Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Friday. The firm set a "hold" rating on the pharmacy operator's stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on WBA. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $10.83. 604,810 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,897,057. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.78 and a 200-day moving average of $10.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $18.83.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WBA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,036,300 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $303,902,000 after buying an additional 2,631,332 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,595,507 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $42,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $805,506,000 after buying an additional 2,279,495 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.