Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,566 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $391,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $692,748,000 after buying an additional 22,978 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $386,168,000 after acquiring an additional 314,004 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,837,000 after acquiring an additional 436,851 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 585,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $186,656,000 after purchasing an additional 22,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 566,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $203,078,000 after purchasing an additional 4,869 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on UTHR. Argus boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.86.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $361.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $369.94 and its 200 day moving average is $341.68. The company has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $208.62 and a 1 year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $2,794,367.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,802 shares in the company, valued at $1,722,093.24. This trade represents a 61.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.36, for a total value of $2,828,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,710 shares in the company, valued at $13,485,785.60. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,340 shares of company stock worth $44,765,530. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.