Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Up 5.4% - Time to Buy?

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) were up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $10.36 and last traded at $10.26. Approximately 17,119,011 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 17,995,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of 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, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price 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, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 6.8 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.72. 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 company has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a PE ratio of -1.04, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.62%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $385,258,000 after buying an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $98,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $68,046,000 after acquiring an additional 817,762 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $62,325,000 after acquiring an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $29,200,000 after purchasing an additional 80,525 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.