Ishara Investments LP Buys Shares of 5,500 United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Ishara Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 5,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,000. United Therapeutics comprises approximately 3.1% of Ishara Investments LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,269,803,000 after purchasing an additional 383,838 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,281,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $624,508,000 after purchasing an additional 295,221 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 75.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 796,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $387,801,000 after purchasing an additional 341,383 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Global Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $317,617,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $293,418,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on UTHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.42.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR opened at $551.47 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $565.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $522.96. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 1 year low of $272.12 and a 1 year high of $609.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.57.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.00 by ($1.18). United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 40.62%.The company had revenue of $781.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.63 earnings per share. United Therapeutics’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $549.17, for a total value of $5,491,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,366,132.92. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 8,300 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.07, for a total transaction of $4,540,681.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,712,246.04. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 636,168 shares of company stock valued at $359,249,237. Insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.