Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 11,023 Shares of United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its holdings in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 258,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,023 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $125,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 60 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 106 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 76.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 106 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.83, for a total value of $5,185,385.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,113,210.79. This represents a 19.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 8,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.07, for a total transaction of $4,540,681.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,172 shares in the company, valued at $24,712,246.04. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 634,984 shares of company stock valued at $358,175,202 in the last three months. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UTHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $707.00 to $701.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.42.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of United Therapeutics stock opened at $545.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $566.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $521.34. The company has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 12-month low of $272.12 and a 12-month high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by ($1.18). The company had revenue of $781.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.62% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.84 EPS for the current fiscal 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.