National Pension Service Decreases Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

National Pension Service lowered its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 72.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,442 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 82,300 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.07% of United Therapeutics worth $11,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UTHR. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $139,206,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $386,168,000 after purchasing an additional 314,004 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 577.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 189,780 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,962,000 after purchasing an additional 161,751 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $150,492,000 after purchasing an additional 152,249 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $9,781,722.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,134.22. This represents a 83.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total value of $3,607,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,678.52. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 124,164 shares of company stock valued at $45,278,893. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 1.1 %

UTHR stock opened at $319.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $221.53 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $359.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $360.71.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm 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 earned $4.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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.