Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading 12.6% Higher - Still a Buy?

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 12.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $10.87 and last traded at $10.92. 11,188,442 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 26,082,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial cut 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.63.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.3 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.99, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.65.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WNY Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 161,227 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,504,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 19,725 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 146,226 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,972,514 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $74,384,000 after purchasing an additional 378,039 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by 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.