Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 3,534 Shares of United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 3.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 101,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $60,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,269,803,000 after purchasing an additional 383,838 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 74.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,441,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,189,617,000 after buying an additional 1,042,711 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,281,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $624,508,000 after buying an additional 295,221 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 796,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $387,801,000 after buying an additional 341,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $293,418,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

UTHR stock opened at $535.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $552.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $530.14. United Therapeutics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $272.12 and a fifty-two week high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $781.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.62% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.63 EPS. Research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.61, for a total value of $5,726,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,876 shares in the company, valued at $10,808,586.36. The trade was a 34.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 564,743 shares of company stock worth $316,423,257 over the last 90 days. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $516.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $701.00 to $704.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $644.82.

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.