United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 26.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 852 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 82.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,886 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 0.9% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 566,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $203,078,000 after purchasing an additional 4,869 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $212,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 64.4% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 32,092 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,500,000 after purchasing an additional 12,566 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $5,307,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of UTHR opened at $378.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $366.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $334.15. The company has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $208.62 and a 52-week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.44, for a total transaction of $6,021,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,034,510.88. This trade represents a 85.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 224 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $92,350.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,384,215.24. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 127,227 shares of company stock valued at $47,398,820. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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. HC Wainwright boosted their price target 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $370.86.

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.