AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,710 shares during the period. United Therapeutics makes up 0.4% of AQR Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 2.18% of United Therapeutics worth $344,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value 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. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.64, for a total value of $3,536,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,330.28. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 74,500 shares of company stock worth $24,472,050. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on UTHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $357.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $314.00 price target (down from $395.00) on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $314.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $390.17.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $297.04 on Tuesday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $233.31 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The company 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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.