Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 207,093 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,209,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arjuna Capital raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 474 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 465 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $685.00 to $687.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $515.00 price target on United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on United Therapeutics from $704.00 to $677.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $646.00.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $527.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $530.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $538.86. United Therapeutics Corporation has a one year low of $302.19 and a one year high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.86 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $783.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $804.65 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.56% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.28, for a total transaction of $5,462,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares in the company, valued at $10,311,581.28. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $541.39, for a total value of $5,143,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,933,333.07. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 424,075 shares of company stock valued at $227,336,485. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.