Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,538 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 337 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,519,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $97,316,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in United Therapeutics by 677.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 300,920 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,422,000 after buying an additional 262,222 shares during the period. Avidity Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $52,158,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in United Therapeutics by 567.2% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 180,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,533,000 after buying an additional 153,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $980,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $35,422.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Christopher Causey sold 2,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.53, for a total value of $563,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,178,203.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total value of $980,928.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $35,422.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 128,644 shares of company stock worth $40,090,119 over the last three months. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ UTHR traded up $4.76 during trading on Monday, hitting $335.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 251,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 4.35 and a quick ratio of 4.18. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $313.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.35. United Therapeutics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $208.62 and a fifty-two week high of $343.98.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.48). The business had revenue of $714.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $691.87 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 40.87%. United Therapeutics’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $270.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.73.

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.