Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Purchases 4,139 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 101.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,227 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,139 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $2,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,462,018,000 after acquiring an additional 18,313,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $151,764,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1,325.5% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 204,299 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $72,085,000 after acquiring an additional 189,967 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 577.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 189,780 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $66,962,000 after acquiring an additional 161,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 709,043 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $250,179,000 after purchasing an additional 157,363 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of UTHR stock traded up $2.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $281.16. 670,796 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,395. United Therapeutics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.39 and a fifty-two week high of $417.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $323.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $351.09.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on UTHR shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.25.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,703,424. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total transaction of $3,646,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $939,625.74. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,500 shares of company stock worth $30,640,680 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

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.