Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 8,446 Shares of United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 65.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,392 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,446 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $10,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 8,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $293,418,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,264,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $473,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on UTHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $525.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $516.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.42.

Insider Activity

In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.48, for a total value of $5,274,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,956,712.48. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 614,043 shares of company stock valued at $344,991,997 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of UTHR opened at $540.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics Corporation has a twelve month low of $272.12 and a twelve month high of $609.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $566.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $516.87.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.00 by ($1.18). The firm had revenue of $781.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.62% and a return on equity of 19.24%. United Therapeutics’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.92 EPS for the current year.

United Therapeutics Company 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.