Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $4,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% during the 2nd 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 during 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 increased its position in United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 92,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $97,316,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $1,214,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $43,862. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.99, for a total value of $2,855,916.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,426 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,277.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $1,214,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,862. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,812 shares of company stock worth $35,251,926. 12.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $348.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $354.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $312.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.35, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $377.03.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.48). The business had revenue of $714.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $691.87 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 40.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.24 EPS. Analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Therapeutics Company 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.