Norges Bank Takes Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 430,122 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,764,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.96% of United Therapeutics as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,761,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UTHR. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,678.52. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,500 shares of company stock worth $26,134,500 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $221.53 and a 52 week high of $417.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $339.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $355.62.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $4.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

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.