Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $608,000 Investment in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,123 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UTHR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $2,868,735,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,269,803,000 after acquiring an additional 383,838 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 74.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,441,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,189,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,711 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,281,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $624,508,000 after purchasing an additional 295,221 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 866,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $514,016,000 after purchasing an additional 70,829 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $704.00 to $677.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $685.00 to $687.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $646.00.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $541.39, for a total value of $5,143,205.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,333.07. This represents a 19.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.28, for a total transaction of $5,462,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares in the company, valued at $10,311,581.28. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 424,075 shares of company stock worth $227,336,485 over the last quarter. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $515.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $530.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $538.70. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 1 year low of $303.08 and a 1 year high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.86 by $0.41. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 41.56%.The business had revenue of $783.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $804.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.33 earnings per share for the current year.

United Therapeutics Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.