Traders Purchase Large Volume of Walgreens Boots Alliance Call Options (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 91,477 call options on the company. This is an increase of 31% compared to the typical daily volume of 69,572 call options.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.68 on Tuesday, hitting $10.94. The company had a trading volume of 30,849,013 shares, 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’s fifty day moving average price is $10.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.71. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of -1.07, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $22.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 351,288 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,181,000 after acquiring an additional 23,751 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 94.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,090 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 14,581 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 56.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,831 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 56,725 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.