United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 329,379 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 78,660 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.74% of United Therapeutics worth $116,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $426,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $215,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 3.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,452 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $1,584,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, United Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $388.25.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total transaction of $3,367,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,781 shares in the company, valued at $11,261,606.58. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,500 shares of company stock worth $29,502,480 in the last 90 days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded down $2.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $290.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 172,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 449,518. The business has a fifty day moving average of $333.78 and a 200 day moving average of $354.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $230.39 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The company has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Therapeutics Profile

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.