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

Brandes Investment Partners LP cut its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 87.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 10,210 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 35.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,999,000 after buying an additional 50,291 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 113.3% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 23,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,441,000 after buying an additional 12,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total transaction of $90,721.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,696.56. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $9,781,722.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,134.22. This trade represents a 83.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,464 shares of company stock valued at $42,396,244 in the last 90 days. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating 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 company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of UTHR opened at $307.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $349.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $358.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Therapeutics 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.