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

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.27.

WBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of -1.11, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.86 and a 200 day moving average of $9.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $23.76.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.