Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys Shares of 1,042 United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has acquired 1,042 shares of United Therapeutics, valued at approximately $321,000, during the first quarter.
• United Therapeutics' recent earnings report revealed $6.41 EPS, which missed the consensus estimate of $6.80, while revenue was $798.60 million, below the expected $802.13 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for United Therapeutics, with an average price target of $379.69.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,042 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $519,170,000 after purchasing an additional 393,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $401,184,000 after purchasing an additional 44,277 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $344,176,000 after purchasing an additional 7,710 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 20.8% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 518,450 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $159,823,000 after purchasing an additional 89,290 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 488,854 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $172,487,000 after purchasing an additional 110,298 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.37, for a total value of $3,904,440.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,353.66. This trade represents a 59.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Giltner sold 3,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.60, for a total transaction of $879,225.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,613,606.40. The trade was a 13.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,681 shares of company stock valued at $21,318,359. 10.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6%

UTHR traded down $1.63 on Monday, hitting $292.65. 909,297 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 547,628. United Therapeutics Corporation has a one year low of $266.98 and a one year high of $417.82. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $298.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.88. The firm has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.57.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.80 by ($0.39). United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 40.36%. The company had revenue of $798.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $802.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.85 EPS. United Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on UTHR. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $410.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on United Therapeutics from $321.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $379.69.

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.