Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 20.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $4,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $692,748,000 after purchasing an additional 22,978 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in United Therapeutics by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,837,000 after buying an additional 436,851 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 585,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $186,656,000 after buying an additional 22,683 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 19.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 561,834 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $178,972,000 after acquiring an additional 92,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $97,316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $355.79 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $344.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.85. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $208.62 and a 1-year high of $366.08. The firm has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.57.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.48). United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.87% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $714.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $691.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.71 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on UTHR. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley downgraded United Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $310.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.17.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.97, for a total value of $1,169,892.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,246.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.97, for a total transaction of $1,169,892.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,246.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.41, for a total transaction of $93,722.29. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,293.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,838 shares of company stock worth $36,782,385 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

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.