SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Makes New $131,000 Investment in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 372 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 35.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,999,000 after purchasing an additional 50,291 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 97.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 23,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $315.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $355.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $360.08. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $221.53 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $9,781,722.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,134.22. This trade represents a 83.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total transaction of $3,607,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,678.52. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,464 shares of company stock worth $42,396,244. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

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.