Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Sets New 52-Week Low at $24.62

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $24.62 and last traded at $24.74, with a volume of 2689806 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $40.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $35.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.32 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 2.44% and a positive return on equity of 12.62%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 18th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.19%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is presently -50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, EVP John Patrick Driscoll bought 5,172 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.42 per share, with a total value of $146,988.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,678,201. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 12,253 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.6% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.9% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,266 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Private Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 65.6% in the first quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a pharmacy-led health and beauty retail company. It operates through two segments, the United States and International. The United States segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of retail products, including health, wellness, beauty, personal care, consumable, and general merchandise products through its retail drugstores.