Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Boosts Stock Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,651 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,956 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.49% of United Therapeutics worth $76,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% during the fourth 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. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,567,253,000 after buying an additional 32,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $519,170,000 after buying an additional 393,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $401,184,000 after buying an additional 44,277 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 709,043 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $250,179,000 after buying an additional 157,363 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This trade represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.64, for a total value of $3,536,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at $911,330.28. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,500 shares of company stock worth $24,472,050 over the last three months. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on UTHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $314.00 price objective (down previously from $395.00) on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America upgraded United Therapeutics from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $314.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on United Therapeutics from $357.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $390.17.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 1.4 %

United Therapeutics stock traded down $4.24 on Wednesday, hitting $296.52. 282,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 447,592. The firm has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $305.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $345.68. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $233.31 and a 1 year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.29 by $0.34. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. United Therapeutics's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. 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.