Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 28.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,473 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 44,683 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $40,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of UTHR. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 22,978 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in United Therapeutics by 82.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,837,000 after acquiring an additional 436,851 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22,683 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 561,834 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $178,972,000 after acquiring an additional 92,240 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $97,316,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UTHR. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Argus increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.18, for a total transaction of $1,239,048.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,743.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Christopher Causey sold 510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.63, for a total value of $192,081.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,115.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.18, for a total value of $1,239,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $44,743.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,422 shares of company stock valued at $35,251,428. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $400.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $359.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $324.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $208.62 and a 52 week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.