American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,999 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $13,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% in the fourth 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 grew its holdings in 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 valued at $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note 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 note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total transaction of $3,646,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $939,625.74. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,500 shares of company stock valued at $26,134,500. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $306.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $337.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.39. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $225.62 and a 52-week high of $417.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $4.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

United Therapeutics 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.