Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,213 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.95% of United Therapeutics worth $1,567,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,999,000 after acquiring an additional 50,291 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 23,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on UTHR. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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, StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total transaction of $3,607,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $929,678.52. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This trade represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,755 shares of company stock worth $29,792,021 in the last ninety days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.9 %

UTHR opened at $308.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $341.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.98. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $221.53 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The firm has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share 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.