We recently published a list of Renaissance Technologies Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) stands against other Renaissance Technologies portfolio’s top stock picks.
The American quant hedge fund Renaissance Technologies is known for using statistical and mathematical tools to drive its investment programs. It was founded in 1982 by Jim Simons, a mathematician who worked as a code breaker for the US National Security Agency during the Cold War. As of December 31, Renaissance Technologies had a portfolio valued at over $67.5 billion.
READ ALSO: Cathie Wood’s Stock Portfolio: 2025 Stock Picks and Jim Cramer’s February Portfolio: Top 10 Stocks.
Simons was among the pioneers of quantitative investing. He had an estimated net worth of $31.4 billion at the time of his death in May last year, making him the 51st richest person in the world at the time. His use of mathematical models and algorithms to drive long-term investment returns earned him a legacy that rivaled the likes of Warren Buffett and George Soros.
The Renaissance founder stepped down from active hedge fund management in 2010 and resigned as its executive chairman in 2021. The firm is now headed by Peter Brown, who has a strong educational background in mathematics and computer sciences. His father, Henry B.R. Brown invented the Reserve Primary Fund in 1970, the first money market fund to be established.
Brown is committed to using mathematical models to discover and unlock the value of stocks in the market. 2024 was a strong year for Renaissance Technologies. According to a report on Business Insider, the two funds that are open to investors—Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund (RIEF) and Renaissance Institutional Diversified Alpha (RIDA)—delivered double-digit returns of 22.7% and 15.6%, respectively.
Its signature Medallion fund performed even better, with a 30% gain, outperforming the broader market by nearly seven percentage points. Medallion was closed to outside investors in 1993 and has since then only been available to past and current employees, and their families. The fund generated average annual returns of 66% for three decades between 1988 and 2018, resulting in over $100 billion in profits during the period. This earned Medallion the reputation of being one of the most successful investment portfolios of all time.
On February 13, Renaissance Technologies filed a portfolio update, reflecting its holdings for the fourth quarter of 2024. The 13F SEC filings revealed significant changes in the portfolio, including a substantial reduction of stake in a leading technology conglomerate and increased investments in Asia-based artificial intelligence companies during the quarter.
Our Methodology:
We scanned Renaissance Technologies’ 13F portfolio, as of December 31, 2024. From there, we picked the top 10 stocks according to their stake value and ranked them in ascending order.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 363.5% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 208 percentage points (see more details here).
A team of scientists in a laboratory, running tests on a biotechnology product.
United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR)
Stake Value as of Q4 2024: $737,221,073
United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) is an American biotechnology company developing novel medications for chronic and life-threatening diseases. It is among the top stock picks from the Renaissance Technologies portfolio, with the hedge fund having investments of over $737 million in the company.
On December 17, 2024, United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) announced the world’s first successful UKidney transplant into a living person. The transplant, authorized by the FDA, was the fourth xenotransplant performed on humans using the company’s xeno organs. Before this, there were two successful UHeart transplants in 2022 and 2023, and one UThymoKidney transplant earlier in 2024.
In February this year, the FDA cleared United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR)’s Investigational New Drug application for a clinical study of its investigational UKidney, with the first xenotransplant in the trial expected to happen around mid-2025. An estimated 557,000 patients in the United States are on dialysis from kidney diseases. The company believes xenotransplants can be a therapeutic alternative to dialysis.
United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) has also recently announced full enrollment of the TETON 1 study to evaluate the use of Tyvaso inhalation solution to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which is a significant step in potentially delivering a transformative treatment option for patients living with the disease.
The company’s innovative research and development, and advancements in ongoing trials have led to a bullish sentiment around the stock. Wall Street analysts have a consensus Buy rating for United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) with an average share price upside potential of 5%.
Overall, UTHR ranks 2nd on our list of Renaissance Technologies portfolio’s top stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential of software companies, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UTHR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
