Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 585 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 370,540 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $130,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $775,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 7,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,588,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $315.91 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $354.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $359.94. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $221.53 and a 52-week high of $417.82. The company has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.36 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.06, for a total transaction of $3,480,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $896,950.62. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,464 shares of company stock worth $42,396,244. 11.90% of the stock is owned by 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.