Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 11,432 Shares of United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management has decreased its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation by 10.7%, currently holding approximately $27.54 million worth of shares.
• The stock has seen fluctuations with a 1-year low of $266.98 and a 1-year high of $436.95, recently trading at $417.57.
• Recent earnings results showed EPS of $6.41, missing expectations, while revenue increased 11.7% year-over-year to $798.6 million.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,844 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 11,432 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.21% of United Therapeutics worth $27,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in United Therapeutics by 141.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 145 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 103.2% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 193 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on UTHR. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $432.00 to $564.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $348.00 to $328.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $510.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on United Therapeutics from $314.00 to $463.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $438.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.17, for a total value of $4,467,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,939,338.77. The trade was a 23.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.56, for a total value of $9,012,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 172,116 shares of company stock worth $63,256,557. 10.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

United Therapeutics stock traded up $7.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $417.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,940,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,732. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $329.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 0.62. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 52-week low of $266.98 and a 52-week high of $436.95.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.80 by ($0.39). United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 40.36%.The company had revenue of $798.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $802.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.85 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share 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.