United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 209,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,618 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $73,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UTHR. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,703,424. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,373.07. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,500 shares of company stock worth $26,134,500. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $339.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $355.62. The company has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $221.53 and a 1 year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current 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.