Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 229 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Hancock Whitney Corp trimmed its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,332 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.7% in the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 3,892 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in United Therapeutics by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 2,892 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of United Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.42.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR traded down $6.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $321.48. The stock had a trading volume of 104,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 492,865. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $208.62 and a 1 year high of $343.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $307.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.22. The stock has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.48). The business had revenue of $714.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $691.87 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 40.87%. United Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.24 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In related news, Director Christopher Patusky sold 1,310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.35, for a total transaction of $346,298.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other United Therapeutics news, Director Christopher Patusky sold 1,310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.35, for a total value of $346,298.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.37, for a total transaction of $980,532.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,408.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,644 shares of company stock worth $29,697,857. Corporate insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Company 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.