California State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Position in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its United Therapeutics stake by 5.5% in the first quarter, selling 3,460 shares and retaining 59,844 shares worth approximately $35.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 94.08% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 11 Buy ratings and two Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $648.33. Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Overweight and raised its target to $735.
• United Therapeutics reported first-quarter earnings of $5.82 per share, below the $7.00 consensus estimate, while revenue of $781.5 million also missed expectations and declined 1.6% year over year. Insiders have sold 502,833 shares worth $279.4 million over the past 90 days.

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,844 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 3,460 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.14% of United Therapeutics worth $35,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Leuthold Group LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 10,672 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,200,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 225,849 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $110,045,000 after buying an additional 70,445 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $1,059,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,622 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,227,000 after buying an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LBP AM SA acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $9,745,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial began coverage on United Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $516.00 price target on United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded United Therapeutics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $648.33.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $517.71 on Friday. United Therapeutics Corporation has a one year low of $272.12 and a one year high of $609.35. The firm has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's fifty day moving average is $543.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $532.44.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.00 by ($1.18). The company had revenue of $781.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 40.62%.United Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.37, for a total transaction of $4,962,515.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 324,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,479,289.91. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 8,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.56, for a total value of $4,586,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,960,240.32. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 502,833 shares of company stock valued at $279,377,162 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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