United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR Shares Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation by 7.3%, acquiring an additional 3,801 shares, bringing its total ownership to 55,545 shares valued at approximately $17.1 million.
• The biotechnology company reported earnings per share of $6.41 in its latest earnings release, falling short of analysts' estimates of $6.80 and demonstrating a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.7%.
• Institutional investors dominate United Therapeutics' ownership, holding approximately 94.08% of the company's stock, with significant investments from multiple firms in the recent quarter.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,545 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 3,801 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.12% of United Therapeutics worth $17,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,457,135 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,374,001,000 after buying an additional 15,312 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 624,711 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $192,571,000 after buying an additional 4,145 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 518,450 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $159,823,000 after buying an additional 89,290 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 488,854 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $172,487,000 after buying an additional 110,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 468,996 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $165,490,000 after buying an additional 8,577 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on UTHR. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $314.00 to $295.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HC Wainwright set a $400.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $432.00 to $564.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $403.54.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Christopher Causey sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.21, for a total transaction of $1,269,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,058,916.65. This represents a 38.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.37, for a total transaction of $3,904,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,353.66. This represents a 59.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 84,681 shares of company stock worth $25,807,469. Corporate insiders own 10.30% of the company's stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 32.8%

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR traded up $100.05 on Tuesday, reaching $404.81. 3,141,718 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 649,617. United Therapeutics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $266.98 and a fifty-two week high of $436.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $301.33 and a 200 day moving average of $305.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.62.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.80 by ($0.39). United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.36% and a return on equity of 18.73%. The company had revenue of $798.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $802.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.85 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.