Royal Bank of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $13.00 to $9.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on WBA. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $8.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.05. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.44%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlet Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 15,340 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,690 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the period. 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.