Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,950,000 shares, a decline of 27.0% from the February 28th total of 62,970,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 25,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.59.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,215,000 after buying an additional 5,036,300 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $303,902,000 after buying an additional 2,631,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.2% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,595,507 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $42,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,806 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.3 %

WBA stock opened at $11.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $10.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.91. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $21.74.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.