Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Trims Stock Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 47.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,435 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 70,046 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.18% of United Therapeutics worth $27,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UTHR. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 39,289 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,863,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 822 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 66,541 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,478,000 after acquiring an additional 12,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in United Therapeutics by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,567,253,000 after acquiring an additional 32,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $308.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $341.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,703,424. This trade represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.68, for a total value of $3,566,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $919,164.36. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 82,755 shares of company stock worth $29,792,021. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics 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.