Bridgewater Associates LP Raises Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 384.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,755 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,003 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $22,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $33,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.37, for a total value of $2,821,050.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 2,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $947,597.55. This represents a 74.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Christopher Causey sold 510 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.63, for a total transaction of $192,081.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,115.25. This trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,227 shares of company stock worth $47,398,820 in the last three months. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $378.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $366.18 and a 200 day moving average of $333.84.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UTHR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.86.

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.