Optimize Financial Inc Acquires New Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 639 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $151,764,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in United Therapeutics by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $519,170,000 after acquiring an additional 393,777 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $72,085,000 after acquiring an additional 189,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted 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 acquiring an additional 161,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total value of $3,367,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,261,606.58. This trade represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond Dwek sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.55, for a total value of $1,138,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,962.50. This represents a 69.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,500 shares of company stock valued at $30,640,680 over the last three months. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $281.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12 month low of $230.39 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $323.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $351.14.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

United Therapeutics Company 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.