Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.80% and a positive return on equity of 16.39%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $15.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance stock. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,947 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

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.