Horizon Investment Services LLC Decreases Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Horizon Investment Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,244 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,596 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $1,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,462,018,000 after buying an additional 18,313,424 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32,213 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 45,566 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $386,168,000 after purchasing an additional 314,004 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in United Therapeutics by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $210,869,000 after purchasing an additional 30,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UTHR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.06, for a total value of $3,480,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,950.62. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 82,755 shares of company stock valued at $29,792,021. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $306.97 on Friday. United Therapeutics Co. has a one year low of $221.53 and a one year high of $417.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.