Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Short Interest Update

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,950,000 shares, a decrease of 27.0% from the February 28th total of 62,970,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 25,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WBA stock opened at $11.19 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.83 and a 200 day moving average of $9.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $21.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of -1.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.59.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 worth $385,258,000 after buying an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,036,300 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $303,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,595,507 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $42,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,806 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.