Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 28.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. 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.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UTHR. ClariVest Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 120.0% during the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $82,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $964,983.42. This trade represents a 85.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $2,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,442,300. This trade represents a 52.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 137,753 shares of company stock valued at $51,787,157. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of United Therapeutics stock opened at $363.65 on Tuesday. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $417.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $371.17 and its 200 day moving average is $346.55. The company has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.55.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UTHR. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 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 assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.86.

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.