United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 74.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 377 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,098 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,269,803,000 after buying an additional 383,838 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 74.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,441,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,189,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,711 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,281,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $624,508,000 after acquiring an additional 295,221 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 75.1% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 796,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $387,801,000 after acquiring an additional 341,383 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $293,418,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTHR has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $701.00 to $704.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America lowered their target price on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $685.00 to $687.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $535.99, for a total transaction of $5,091,905.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,714,562.87. This trade represents a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 8,300 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.56, for a total transaction of $4,586,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,960,240.32. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 513,333 shares of company stock worth $286,933,042. 8.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $529.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $548.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $531.41. United Therapeutics Corporation has a twelve month low of $272.12 and a twelve month high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.00 by ($1.18). The firm had revenue of $781.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 40.62%.United Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.