Avoro Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Avoro Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,760,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 98,588 shares during the quarter. United Therapeutics accounts for about 13.8% of Avoro Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 6.18% of United Therapeutics worth $973,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of UTHR. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,098,000 after acquiring an additional 2,702 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 39,289 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $13,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 35.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $68,999,000 after purchasing an additional 50,291 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on UTHR. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $314.00 target price (down previously from $395.00) on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $314.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $390.17.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR traded down $5.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $291.38. The stock had a trading volume of 311,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,512. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $233.31 and a twelve month high of $417.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.99.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Raymond Dwek sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.57, for a total value of $856,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,747.50. This represents a 63.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.05, for a total transaction of $3,710,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at $956,195.85. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 84,500 shares of company stock worth $28,179,150. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

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.