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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. SVB Leerink reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an underweight rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research 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.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 2.5 %

WBA opened at $21.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a fifty-two week low of $19.68 and a fifty-two week high of $36.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.75 and its 200 day moving average is $22.29. The stock has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 4th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $36.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.95 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.22 per share, with a total value of $242,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,171,654.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at $14,171,654.84. The disclosure for this purchase 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 made changes to their positions in WBA. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $311,053,000 after purchasing an additional 8,315,989 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 63,406,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,192,584,000 after buying an additional 2,797,885 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 179.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,910,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $85,511,000 after buying an additional 1,227,700 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,974,220 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $447,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $69,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,468 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.