United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Purchased by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 40.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,413 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 18,313,424 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $391,459,000 after acquiring an additional 45,566 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 41.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $386,168,000 after acquiring an additional 314,004 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $210,869,000 after buying an additional 30,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 12.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 460,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,978,000 after buying an additional 50,409 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,696.56. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total value of $3,607,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,678.52. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,464 shares of company stock worth $42,396,244 in the last 90 days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $307.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $221.53 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $349.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $358.53.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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.