Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 7.1% – Here’s What Happened

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares rose 7.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.76 and last traded at $10.88. Approximately 10,011,251 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 26,503,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WBA. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 6.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.37 and a 200 day moving average of $9.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. The company 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth $33,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 701.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 282,619 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after buying an additional 247,350 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 151,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth about $164,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.