Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Down 3.4%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares traded down 3.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $10.36 and last traded at $10.36. 3,909,462 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 15,396,335 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WBA shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.86.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.49, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.62.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 282.1% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,219 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 260.0% in the first quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 1,800 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.