Ethic Inc. Makes New $959,000 Investment in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Ethic Inc. bought a new position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,718 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 18,313,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $151,764,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $519,170,000 after acquiring an additional 393,777 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 1,325.5% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 204,299 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,085,000 after acquiring an additional 189,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 577.1% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 189,780 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,962,000 after purchasing an additional 161,751 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of UTHR opened at $308.07 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $300.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.52. The stock has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.58. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $264.33 and a 52 week high of $417.82.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total value of $3,607,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $929,678.52. This represents a 79.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This trade represents a 22.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,500 shares of company stock worth $20,765,280 over the last quarter. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UTHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on United Therapeutics from $355.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on United Therapeutics from $346.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded United Therapeutics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $314.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $392.00.

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.