Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 164 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 164 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 678.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $131,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UTHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $312.99 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $221.53 and a twelve month high of $417.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $345.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $357.05.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.36 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In related news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total transaction of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.68, for a total value of $3,566,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $919,164.36. 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 80,255 shares of company stock worth $28,995,021 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

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.