Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 309 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,355 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $391,459,000 after purchasing an additional 45,566 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $386,168,000 after purchasing an additional 314,004 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $210,869,000 after purchasing an additional 30,931 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in United Therapeutics by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 460,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,978,000 after buying an additional 50,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in United Therapeutics by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $150,492,000 after buying an additional 152,249 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their price target on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $382.08.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $367.36 on Friday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $214.52 and a 52-week high of $417.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $362.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $359.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.05, for a total transaction of $3,710,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $956,195.85. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $9,781,722.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,134.22. This represents a 83.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 124,164 shares of company stock valued at $45,398,793 in the last quarter. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.