Barclays PLC Sells 15,445 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Barclays PLC cut its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 20.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,594 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 15,445 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.13% of United Therapeutics worth $20,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,525 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in United Therapeutics by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,681 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $370.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,792 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $2,794,367.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,722,093.24. This represents a 61.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher Causey sold 510 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.63, for a total value of $192,081.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,384,115.25. This trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,340 shares of company stock worth $44,765,530. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.1 %

UTHR stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $361.81. 293,245 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 268,515. The stock has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a one year low of $208.62 and a one year high of $417.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $369.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $342.71.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. United Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.