Inspire Investing LLC Increases Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $2,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 12.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,981 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 5,531 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 27.2% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 33,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,728,000 after purchasing an additional 7,205 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $1,562,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $375,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.9 %

United Therapeutics stock opened at $371.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $365.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.12. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $940,373.07. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $2,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,442,300. This trade represents a 52.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,848 shares of company stock worth $55,165,099 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UTHR. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.36.

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.