Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 279 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,497 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 279 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $1,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in United Therapeutics by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,098,000 after acquiring an additional 2,702 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in United Therapeutics by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 39,289 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 35.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,999,000 after purchasing an additional 50,291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.64, for a total value of $3,536,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,330.28. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Raymond Dwek sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.57, for a total value of $856,710.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,747.50. This represents a 63.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 74,500 shares of company stock valued at $24,472,050. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $303.09 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $236.65 and a 1 year high of $417.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $304.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $345.39.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.29 by $0.34. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company had revenue of $794.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $726.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.17 earnings per share. United Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UTHR. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $314.00 price objective (down from $395.00) on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $357.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised United Therapeutics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $314.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $390.17.

About United Therapeutics

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.