B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 67 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ClariVest Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $359.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $371.01 and a 200 day moving average of $344.37. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $208.62 and a 52-week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. United Therapeutics’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on UTHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus increased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.86.

Insider Activity

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 224 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total transaction of $92,350.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,384,215.24. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $9,781,722.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,885,134.22. This trade represents a 83.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 145,549 shares of company stock worth $54,547,253. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics 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.