Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,463,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 706,958 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 5.49% of United Therapeutics worth $869,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $415,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,021 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,419,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $394,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 142.6% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 118,091 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,667,000 after buying an additional 69,411 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In related 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 value of $3,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,373.07. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at $2,703,424. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,500 shares of company stock worth $26,134,500. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UTHR. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of UTHR opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $339.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.62. The company has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

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