Duality Advisers LP Increases Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 56.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,642 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,622 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $3,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,662,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,053,212,000 after acquiring an additional 20,373 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 383,068 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 312,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,781,000 after purchasing an additional 67,738 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 260,412 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,819,000 after purchasing an additional 61,543 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 257,551 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,173,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $234.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.28, a current ratio of 4.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $232.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.52. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $204.44 and a 52 week high of $261.54.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The biotechnology company reported $4.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $614.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $575.01 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 42.31% and a return on equity of 17.72%. United Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 25.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 23.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on UTHR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $213.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $309.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $308.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.31, for a total transaction of $1,291,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,599 shares in the company, valued at $7,880,130.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.31, for a total transaction of $1,291,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,599 shares in the company, valued at $7,880,130.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher Patusky sold 1,680 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.00, for a total value of $376,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,790 shares of company stock valued at $30,528,633 over the last three months. 12.50% of the stock is owned by company 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.