Walgreens Boots Alliance Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 91,477 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 31% compared to the average volume of 69,572 call options.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded up $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.94. 30,849,013 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,820,202. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.52 and a 200-day moving average of $9.71. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $22.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 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 firm had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Financial Corp IN raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WBA. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.54.

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.