Acadian Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 1,657.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 179,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 169,010 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $55,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $313,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 96.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 67,576 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,832,000 after purchasing an additional 33,254 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 25,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,783,000 after purchasing an additional 11,007 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,678 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $227,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 1.8%

UTHR opened at $396.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $314.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.91. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 52 week low of $266.98 and a 52 week high of $436.95. The company has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.62.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.80 by ($0.39). United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.36% and a return on equity of 18.73%. The company had revenue of $798.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $802.13 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $398.55, for a total transaction of $3,188,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,811.50. This represents a 98.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.64, for a total transaction of $9,396,900.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 124,816 shares of company stock valued at $44,247,193 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $510.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on United Therapeutics from $348.00 to $328.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $314.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.85.

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.