Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 99,154 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 542,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 99,154 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $191,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% during 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 buying an additional 18,313,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $151,764,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $139,206,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1,325.5% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 204,299 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,085,000 after purchasing an additional 189,967 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $306.97 on Monday. United Therapeutics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $221.53 and a fifty-two week high of $417.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.85.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total value of $3,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $940,373.07. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,500 shares of company stock valued at $26,134,500 over the last ninety days. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.