Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 44,277 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,277 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $401,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 678.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $292.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $333.78 and a 200-day moving average of $354.39. The company has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $230.39 and a 52 week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted 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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.36 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total transaction of $3,646,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $939,625.74. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,500 shares of company stock valued at $26,134,500 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics 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.