Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $3.20-3.35 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $3.24.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $21.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a twelve month low of $19.68 and a twelve month high of $36.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 0.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is 151.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on WBA shares. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. TheStreet raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC reissued a reduce rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $350,567.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $311,053,000 after purchasing an additional 8,315,989 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 63,406,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,192,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,885 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 179.9% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,910,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $85,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,700 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,974,220 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $447,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.4% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,443,458 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $69,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,468 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.