United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Stock Position Trimmed by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,276 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $4,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 31.9% during the 4th 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 stake in United Therapeutics by 678.9% during the 4th 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. acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $131,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR stock opened at $312.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $356.99. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $221.53 and a 52 week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company posted $4.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on UTHR. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.95, for a total transaction of $3,619,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $932,745.15. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 90,255 shares of company stock worth $32,614,521. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.