JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 50,291 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.43% of United Therapeutics worth $68,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,525 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.8% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,681 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $961,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $370.86.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR traded down $3.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $356.33. The stock had a trading volume of 235,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,238. The company has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $208.62 and a 1 year high of $417.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $370.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $350.70.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.36, for a total transaction of $2,828,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,485,785.60. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,794 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $2,771,078.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,344 shares in the company, valued at $1,900,005.76. This trade represents a 59.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 150,216 shares of company stock worth $56,269,811. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.