Bank of Montreal Can Decreases Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 4,935 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.09% of United Therapeutics worth $13,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tri Locum Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,959,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 22,978 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,664 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $475,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.41, for a total transaction of $2,694,888.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,108,766.10. This trade represents a 70.85 % 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, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.75, for a total transaction of $3,727,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $960,576.75. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,227 shares of company stock valued at $47,398,820 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of United Therapeutics stock opened at $370.49 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $367.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $335.19. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The stock has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.