United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Bought by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,870 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $16,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in 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 worth $6,462,018,000 after acquiring an additional 18,313,424 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $391,459,000 after purchasing an additional 45,566 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $386,168,000 after purchasing an additional 314,004 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in United Therapeutics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $210,869,000 after purchasing an additional 30,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 12.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 460,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,978,000 after buying an additional 50,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UTHR. UBS Group boosted their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,134.22. This represents a 83.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.05, for a total transaction of $3,710,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $956,195.85. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,464 shares of company stock worth $42,396,244. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $305.39 on Friday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $221.53 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $351.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $359.12. The company has a market capitalization of $13.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $4.36 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

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.