Korea Investment CORP Acquires 2,300 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,289 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.09% of United Therapeutics worth $13,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Florida Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 822 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 66,541 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,478,000 after acquiring an additional 12,104 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,567,253,000 after purchasing an additional 32,213 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 122.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,239 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 7,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $429,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,703,424. The trade was a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total transaction of $3,607,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,678.52. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,500 shares of company stock valued at $26,134,500 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of United Therapeutics stock opened at $306.97 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $221.53 and a 52-week high of $417.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.85.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS 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.