Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Hits New 12-Month Low at $17.53

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $17.53 and last traded at $17.57, with a volume of 2508833 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WBA. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.02. The firm has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423 over the last ninety days. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $311,053,000 after buying an additional 8,315,989 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $481,694,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,317 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $378,668,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 63,406,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,192,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797,885 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.