Allstate Corp Takes $415,000 Position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,176 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,567,253,000 after buying an additional 32,213 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $391,459,000 after buying an additional 45,566 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $210,869,000 after buying an additional 30,931 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in United Therapeutics by 12.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 460,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,978,000 after acquiring an additional 50,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR stock opened at $312.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $336.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $355.09. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52-week low of $227.75 and a 52-week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm 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 firm posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.06, for a total value of $3,480,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $896,950.62. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,500 shares of company stock valued at $26,134,500. 11.90% of the stock is 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.