New York Life Investment Management LLC Sells 398 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 398 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $1,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $391,459,000 after purchasing an additional 45,566 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 41.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $386,168,000 after buying an additional 314,004 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $210,869,000 after buying an additional 30,931 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 460,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,978,000 after acquiring an additional 50,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $150,492,000 after acquiring an additional 152,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $319.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $359.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $360.97. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $221.53 and a twelve month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total transaction of $3,607,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,678.52. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.37, for a total transaction of $2,882,649.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,122.70. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 124,164 shares of company stock worth $45,278,893. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

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.