Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

WBA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an underweight rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $21.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.28. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52-week low of $19.68 and a 52-week high of $36.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 0.40%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 151.52%.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $350,567.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 585,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,171,654.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $350,567.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $2,094,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $837,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 162,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,243,000 after buying an additional 38,250 shares in the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at $372,000. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 12,229 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently 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.