Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 69,411 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 142.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,091 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 69,411 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.26% of United Therapeutics worth $41,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,567,253,000 after acquiring an additional 32,213 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $391,459,000 after acquiring an additional 45,566 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $386,168,000 after acquiring an additional 314,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $210,869,000 after purchasing an additional 30,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This trade represents a 22.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $940,373.07. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,500 shares of company stock valued at $26,134,500 in the last three months. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of UTHR traded down $5.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $306.89. The stock had a trading volume of 236,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 449,425. United Therapeutics Co. has a one year low of $227.75 and a one year high of $417.82. The firm has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $355.09.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Therapeutics Company 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.