Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 329,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,660 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of United Therapeutics worth $116,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 678.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total value of $3,646,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $939,625.74. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,500 shares of company stock worth $26,134,500 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $312.26 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $355.09. United Therapeutics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $227.75 and a fifty-two week high of $417.82. The company has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.