United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR Shares Purchased by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 63.1% in Q4 to 16,416 shares valued at $7.999 million, and institutional investors now own about 94.08% of the company.
• United Therapeutics reported Q4 EPS of $7.70 (vs. $6.78 expected) while revenue of $790.2M missed estimates; the stock trades around $581 with a market cap of $25.47 billion.
• Insiders including the CEO and CFO have been selling recently—456,155 shares worth about $248.7M were sold over the last three months and insiders now own 10.30%—while analysts' consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $601.50.

Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 63.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,354 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio's holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $7,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 396.3% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,288 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 3,424 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 194.7% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $444,000. Tobam grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 183.9% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 7,646 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 4,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $11,460,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $486.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $587.00 to $643.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $601.50.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $581.22 on Tuesday. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 12 month low of $272.12 and a 12 month high of $607.89. The company has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $543.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $498.27.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $7.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.78 by $0.92. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 41.94%.The business had revenue of $790.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.19 earnings per share. United Therapeutics's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 27.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.58, for a total transaction of $5,420,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,115,907.54. This represents a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was 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 directly owned 18,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,808,586.36. This represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 456,155 shares of company stock valued at $248,660,944 over the last three months. Insiders own 10.30% of the company's stock.

United Therapeutics Company 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.