Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.00, but opened at $9.60. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $10.20, with a volume of 24,022,260 shares changing hands.

The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.54.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 6.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of -1.64, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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.