Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $10.60, but opened at $11.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $11.40, with a volume of 23,298,319 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.54.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm's fifty day moving average is $10.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,090 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,581 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,831 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 56,725 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 393,500 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,526,000 after acquiring an additional 33,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 85.9% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,706 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 14,651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.