Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Purchases 7,053 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 189,341 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,053 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $66,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UTHR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,567,253,000 after purchasing an additional 32,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $519,170,000 after acquiring an additional 393,777 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $401,184,000 after purchasing an additional 44,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $344,176,000 after acquiring an additional 7,710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on UTHR. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $355.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $314.00 target price (down from $395.00) on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $346.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.00.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $306.96 on Thursday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $260.41 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The company has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $300.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.05.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.29 by $0.34. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $794.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $726.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.17 EPS. United Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.78, for a total value of $3,121,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,437,712.18. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,500 shares of company stock worth $24,245,880 in the last 90 days. 11.90% 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.