Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given a $94.00 Price Target by Needham & Company LLC Analysts

Needham & Company LLC set a $94.00 target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, July 17th. The firm currently has a buy rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays PLC set a $79.00 price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, April 1st. Guggenheim restated a buy rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Jefferies Group LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday, March 31st. Pivotal Research set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Sunday, July 2nd. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) restated a neutral rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $89.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $90.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ WBA) opened at 81.06 on Monday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $75.18 and a 12 month high of $88.00. The firm has a market cap of $86.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $78.82 and its 200-day moving average is $82.40.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 29th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $30.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.72 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 17.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post $5.01 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, June 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the pharmacy operator to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Walgreens Boots Alliance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is 37.78%.

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director William C. Foote sold 2,736 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.79, for a total value of $218,305.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,528,058.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 13.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Reilly Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.9% in the second quarter. Reilly Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hudock Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the first quarter. Hudock Capital Group LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the period. Tarbox Group Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 288.3% in the first quarter. Tarbox Group Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 209.2% in the first quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 1,441 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.4% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 1,509 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.16% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc (Walgreens Boots Alliance) is a holding company. The Company is a global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. Walgreens Boots Alliance operates through three divisions, including Retail Pharmacy USA, Retail Pharmacy International and Pharmaceutical Wholesale. The Company’s products are marketed under a number of brands, which include No7, the Botanics range, Almus (generic medicines), Boots Pharmaceuticals and Soap & Glory (bathing and beauty brand).