Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 44,277 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,277 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.55% of United Therapeutics worth $401,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UTHR. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $292.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $354.39. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $230.39 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The stock has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $940,373.07. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,500 shares of company stock worth $26,134,500 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UTHR. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

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.