Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 8,882 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 29.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,882 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $6,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 64,674 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,221,000 after buying an additional 7,020 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 355.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,851 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,962,000 after acquiring an additional 38,915 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 94,693 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,811,000 after acquiring an additional 5,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 1,066.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 82,951 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,240,000 after acquiring an additional 75,839 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of United Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $310.00 to $321.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.04, for a total value of $2,760,095.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,626.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.45, for a total value of $1,153,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,658.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.04, for a total transaction of $2,760,095.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,509,626.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,252 shares of company stock worth $36,939,427. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $357.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 4.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $366.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.59.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.48). United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.87% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The company had revenue of $714.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $691.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.84 EPS for the current year.

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.