United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 122.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,239 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 7,847 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $5,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $391,459,000 after buying an additional 45,566 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $210,869,000 after acquiring an additional 30,931 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 429,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $151,425,000 after acquiring an additional 9,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $89,532,000 after acquiring an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of UTHR stock traded up $2.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $281.16. The stock had a trading volume of 670,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 453,395. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $230.39 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The firm has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day moving average is $323.22 and its 200-day moving average is $351.09.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.36 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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 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 sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,703,424. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total value of $3,646,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $939,625.74. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,500 shares of company stock worth $30,640,680 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.