Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 1,412 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd reduced its stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 15.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,790 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 1,412 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $2,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UTHR. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $692,748,000 after purchasing an additional 22,978 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 82.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $307,837,000 after acquiring an additional 436,851 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 585,969 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $186,656,000 after purchasing an additional 22,683 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 566,703 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $203,078,000 after buying an additional 4,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $97,316,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of UTHR stock traded up $1.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $378.13. 323,202 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 457,791. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56. The company's 50-day moving average price is $366.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $333.84.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $370.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.36, for a total transaction of $2,828,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,710 shares in the company, valued at $13,485,785.60. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,802 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.41, for a total value of $2,694,888.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 3,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,108,766.10. This represents a 70.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,227 shares of company stock valued at $47,398,820 in the last quarter. 11.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Company 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.