Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 18th, 2023

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.43.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $311,053,000 after acquiring an additional 8,315,989 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 53,374,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,675,950,000 after buying an additional 3,095,684 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,159,800 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $155,410,000 after buying an additional 1,597,800 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth about $38,288,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,974,220 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $447,357,000 after buying an additional 1,155,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $32.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.57, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.45. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $30.39 and a 12-month high of $48.62.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 5th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.04 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 13.57% and a negative net margin of 2.24%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 15th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is presently -55.81%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile

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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc engages in the provision of healthcare and retail pharmacy services. It operates through the following segments: United States Retail Pharmacy, International, and United States Healthcare. The US Retail Pharmacy segment includes the operation of retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty and home delivery pharmacy services, and equity method investment.