JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 50,291 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,291 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $68,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Tri Locum Partners LP acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $15,959,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after buying an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 384.3% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 61,755 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,130,000 after buying an additional 49,003 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 68,605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,585,000 after acquiring an additional 4,145 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $692,748,000 after acquiring an additional 22,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.86.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.88, for a total transaction of $2,773,016.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,997.92. The trade was a 56.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 150,216 shares of company stock valued at $56,269,811 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of UTHR opened at $356.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $370.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $350.39. The company has a market cap of $15.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.55. United Therapeutics Co. has a one year low of $208.62 and a one year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.