Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Stock Position in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 338.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 5,591 shares worth about $2.72 million.
• Several other institutional investors also bought into the stock, and overall institutions own 94.08% of United Therapeutics shares.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including CFO James Edgemond and Director Nilda Mesa, while the stock was trading around $568.43, near its 52-week high.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 338.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,591 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,317 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $2,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 1,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 60 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 125.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 88 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.11, for a total transaction of $5,641,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,648,140.36. This represents a 34.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $581.93, for a total value of $150,137.94. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,925,944.04. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 569,913 shares of company stock valued at $317,603,631. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.5%

UTHR stock opened at $568.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.60. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 12-month low of $272.12 and a 12-month high of $609.35. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $563.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $511.57.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.00 by ($1.18). The firm had revenue of $781.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.62% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 27.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UTHR shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on United Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $569.00 to $626.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $619.42.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.