Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $10.60, but opened at $11.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $11.40, with a volume of 23,298,319 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 7.1 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $10.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced 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. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,215,000 after acquiring an additional 5,036,300 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $303,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.