Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 189,967 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 1,325.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,299 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 189,967 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.46% of United Therapeutics worth $72,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,214,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,913 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,761,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total transaction of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $3,566,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $919,164.36. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 90,255 shares of company stock valued at $32,614,521. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $312.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,155,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,848. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $345.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $357.02. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $221.53 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The company has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.25.

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.