Perpetual Ltd Boosts Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 62.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,170 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $391,459,000 after acquiring an additional 45,566 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 41.1% during 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. grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 460,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,978,000 after purchasing an additional 50,409 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in United Therapeutics by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $150,492,000 after purchasing an additional 152,249 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UTHR shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus increased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.36.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.9 %

UTHR stock opened at $371.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $365.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $355.12. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $417.82.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $940,373.07. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.36, for a total value of $2,828,672.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,848 shares of company stock valued at $55,165,099 over the last quarter. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.