Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $524,000 Stock Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Brandes Investment Partners LP lowered its stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 87.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 10,210 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UTHR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,462,018,000 after acquiring an additional 18,313,424 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $139,206,000. FMR LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $386,168,000 after buying an additional 314,004 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in United Therapeutics by 577.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 189,780 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,962,000 after buying an additional 161,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after buying an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In related news, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $9,781,722.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,885,134.22. The trade was a 83.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $919,164.36. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,464 shares of company stock worth $42,396,244. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTHR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $307.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $349.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $358.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $221.53 and a 1 year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.36 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

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.