HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,832 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $6,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in United Therapeutics by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 35.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,999,000 after purchasing an additional 50,291 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 23,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.05, for a total value of $3,710,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $956,195.85. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,255 shares of company stock worth $32,614,521. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

United Therapeutics stock opened at $314.12 on Wednesday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The company has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $348.15 and its 200-day moving average is $357.92.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.36 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS 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.