Jefferies Financial Group Raises United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Price Target to $432.00

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $315.00 to $432.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on UTHR. TD Cowen boosted their price target on United Therapeutics from $270.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of United Therapeutics from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $310.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $357.17.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR stock opened at $359.51 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $340.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.15. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $208.62 and a 12 month high of $366.08. The company has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 4.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.48). The business had revenue of $714.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $691.87 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 40.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics will post 24.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,796 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.04, for a total transaction of $2,760,095.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,509,626.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.38, for a total value of $8,084,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,350.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.04, for a total value of $2,760,095.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,626.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,252 shares of company stock valued at $36,939,427. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 64,674 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,221,000 after purchasing an additional 7,020 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,036 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,746,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 355.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,851 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,962,000 after buying an additional 38,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 30,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,815,000 after buying an additional 7,971 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation, a biotechnology company, engages in the development and commercialization of products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening diseases in the United States and internationally. The company offers Tyvaso DPI, an inhaled dry powder via pre-filled and single-use cartridges; Tyvaso, an inhaled solution via ultrasonic nebulizer; Remodulin (treprostinil) injection to treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to diminish symptoms associated with exercise; Orenitram, a tablet dosage form of treprostinil, to delay disease progression and improve exercise capacity in PAH patients; and Adcirca, an oral PDE-5 inhibitor to enhance the exercise ability in PAH patients.