California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 209,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,618 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.47% of United Therapeutics worth $73,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UTHR. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in United Therapeutics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,373.07. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at $2,703,424. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,500 shares of company stock valued at $26,134,500. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.4 %

United Therapeutics stock opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $355.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $221.53 and a 52-week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.36 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Therapeutics Profile

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.