Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 3.200-3.350 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 3.240. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Walgreens Boots Alliance also updated its FY24 guidance to $3.20-3.35 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WBA. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, HSBC restated a reduce rating and set a $20.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $21.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $19.68 and a 12-month high of $36.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 0.40%. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 151.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the business’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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,120.5% during the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,367 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. 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.