United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,832 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 782 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $6,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 31.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of 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. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of United Therapeutics stock opened at $314.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $357.92. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on UTHR. StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their target price 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.68, for a total transaction of $3,566,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $919,164.36. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 90,255 shares of company stock valued at $32,614,521 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

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.