Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Stake in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,458,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,126 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 356 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 896 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR opened at $568.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $563.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $513.01. The company has a market cap of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.60. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 12-month low of $272.12 and a 12-month high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by ($1.18). The firm had revenue of $781.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 40.62%.United Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.63 EPS. On average, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 27.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.48, for a total transaction of $5,274,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares in the company, valued at $9,956,712.48. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 555,473 shares of company stock worth $310,786,074 in the last ninety days. 8.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on United Therapeutics from $707.00 to $701.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.42.

United Therapeutics Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.