Palo Alto Investors LP Sells 50,486 Shares of United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Key Points

• Palo Alto Investors LP has reduced its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation by 32.4%, selling 50,486 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 105,228 shares.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in United Therapeutics, with Vaughan Nelson Investment Management acquiring a stake valued at approximately $101.35 million.
• Analysts’ price targets for United Therapeutics vary, with UBS Group setting a target of $415.00 and Morgan Stanley lowering it to $328.00, while the consensus rating remains at "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $382.00.

Palo Alto Investors LP decreased its position in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 32.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,228 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 50,486 shares during the quarter. United Therapeutics comprises approximately 6.2% of Palo Alto Investors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Palo Alto Investors LP owned about 0.23% of United Therapeutics worth $32,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $101,354,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $83,533,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 29,415.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 221,954 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $68,422,000 after buying an additional 221,202 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 46.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 465,115 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $143,381,000 after buying an additional 146,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 763.4% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 118,582 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $36,556,000 after buying an additional 104,847 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright set a $400.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $348.00 to $328.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $321.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $382.00.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In related news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 645 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.99, for a total transaction of $187,043.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,883 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,021.17. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Giltner sold 3,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 19,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,613,606.40. This represents a 13.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,681 shares of company stock valued at $24,537,839 in the last quarter. 10.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $304.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $299.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.77. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 1 year low of $266.98 and a 1 year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.80 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $798.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $802.13 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 40.36%.The business's revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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