Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,213 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of United Therapeutics worth $1,567,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in United Therapeutics by 678.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total transaction of $3,646,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $939,625.74. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total transaction of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,755 shares of company stock valued at $29,792,021 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UTHR. 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. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

UTHR opened at $308.02 on Friday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $341.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $355.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share 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.