Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Increases Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $4,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $139,206,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $386,168,000 after acquiring an additional 314,004 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $150,492,000 after acquiring an additional 152,249 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 32.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 343,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $123,181,000 after purchasing an additional 84,369 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.06, for a total transaction of $3,480,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,950.62. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 121,864 shares of company stock valued at $44,516,965 in the last three months. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on UTHR. UBS Group lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.08.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $370.74 on Thursday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $211.61 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The business’s 50 day moving average is $361.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $358.32. The company has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.57.

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.