Bank of Nova Scotia Takes Position in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,315 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UTHR. Kendall Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $3,187,000. Hudson Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $740,000. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $4,485,000. Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $784,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UTHR. Morgan Stanley set a $515.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on United Therapeutics from $704.00 to $677.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.61, for a total transaction of $5,202,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,513 shares in the company, valued at $22,185,323.93. This represents a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.28, for a total value of $5,462,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,311,581.28. This represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 424,075 shares of company stock worth $227,683,710. Corporate insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $516.68 on Thursday. United Therapeutics Corporation has a one year low of $302.19 and a one year high of $609.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $531.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $538.56.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.86 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $783.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $804.65 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 41.56%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Therapeutics Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.