Focus Partners Wealth Boosts Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 127.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,917 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,567,253,000 after purchasing an additional 32,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $519,170,000 after purchasing an additional 393,777 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $401,184,000 after purchasing an additional 44,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $344,176,000 after purchasing an additional 7,710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $314.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $355.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $346.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $392.00.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of UTHR opened at $305.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.58. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $264.33 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The company's fifty day moving average price is $299.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.72.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.29 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $794.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $726.82 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total value of $3,607,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at $929,678.52. This represents a 79.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total transaction of $3,367,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,781 shares in the company, valued at $11,261,606.58. This trade represents a 23.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,500 shares of company stock valued at $17,054,780 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.30% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UTHR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.