Advisors Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,075 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Seeds Investor LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 219.9% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,804 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 109.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $284.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $350.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $230.39 and a 1-year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.71, for a total value of $3,707,100.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $955,319.67. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,500 shares of company stock worth $27,849,960. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UTHR. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Profile

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.