StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WBA. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Cowen upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.43.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $33.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $28.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $30.39 and a 1 year high of $48.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 5th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.04 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 13.57% and a negative net margin of 2.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 35.7% in the third quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 950 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $877,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 12,253 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.5% during the second quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 20,511 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile

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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc engages in the provision of healthcare and retail pharmacy services. It operates through the following segments: United States Retail Pharmacy, International, and United States Healthcare. The US Retail Pharmacy segment includes the operation of retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty and home delivery pharmacy services, and equity method investment.