Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $46.36 Million Stock Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,372 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 12,481 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.29% of United Therapeutics worth $46,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management increased its position in United Therapeutics by 82.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $307,837,000 after buying an additional 436,851 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $139,206,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $386,168,000 after acquiring an additional 314,004 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $150,492,000 after purchasing an additional 152,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $361.81. 293,245 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,737. The company has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $208.62 and a fifty-two week high of $417.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $369.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $341.68.

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

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,792 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $2,794,367.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,722,093.24. The trade was a 61.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $964,983.42. This represents a 85.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,340 shares of company stock worth $44,765,530 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $370.86.

About United Therapeutics

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.