North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires New Position in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,564 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 396.3% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,288 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 3,424 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 194.7% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $444,000. Tobam lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 183.9% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 7,646 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 4,953 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,059,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.5%

UTHR stock opened at $563.93 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $562.18 and a 200-day moving average of $510.32. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 12-month low of $272.12 and a 12-month high of $609.35. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.60.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by ($1.18). United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 40.62%.The business had revenue of $781.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.40 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 27.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.48, for a total transaction of $5,274,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,956,712.48. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 14,440 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.13, for a total transaction of $6,817,557.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 542,113 shares of company stock valued at $301,914,315. Corporate insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UTHR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $516.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $569.00 to $626.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.42.

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.