California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,289 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,933 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.21% of United Therapeutics worth $52,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UTHR. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,269,803,000 after purchasing an additional 383,838 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,042,711 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 295,221 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 75.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 796,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $387,801,000 after purchasing an additional 341,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $293,418,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Bank of America dropped their price target on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on United Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $644.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $576.93, for a total transaction of $5,769,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,890,130.68. This represents a 34.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 545,243 shares of company stock worth $305,155,272 in the last quarter. Insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

United Therapeutics stock opened at $529.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $551.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $530.56. 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 results 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). The company had revenue of $781.50 million during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.63 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.