Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) PT Lowered to $21.00

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 0.10% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WBA. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. SVB Leerink lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $21.02 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $19.68 and a 12 month high of $36.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.75 and its 200 day moving average is $22.29.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 4th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The business had revenue of $36.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth bought 10,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.22 per share, with a total value of $242,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at $14,171,654.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $350,567.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at $14,171,654.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 29,409 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,170,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $48,269,000 after acquiring an additional 576,534 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 129,191 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,873,000 after acquiring an additional 28,400 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,444,686 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,130,000 after acquiring an additional 47,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 66,949,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,907,403,000 after purchasing an additional 3,543,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.