Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 14% After Strong Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares were up 14% on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $10.38 and last traded at $10.26. Approximately 39,514,496 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 137% from the average daily volume of 16,644,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.00.

The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WBA. Truist Financial cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 95.1% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 47,327 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 23,071 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.0% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 67,016 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 25.2% during the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 66,542 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 13,383 shares during the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 159.8% during the third quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,254 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 21,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 30.2% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 139,236 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 32,286 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.56, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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.