United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $294.25.

UTHR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $309.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $213.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 5th.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.59, for a total value of $3,548,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,756.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.59, for a total value of $3,548,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,756.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 14,125 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.18, for a total value of $3,336,042.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,703.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,390 shares of company stock valued at $31,379,925. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,662,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,053,212,000 after buying an additional 20,373 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,950 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $123,566,000 after buying an additional 9,962 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $100,519,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 383,068 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,524,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,030 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,152,000 after acquiring an additional 7,723 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $234.47 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $232.48 and its 200 day moving average is $228.69. The company has a current ratio of 4.41, a quick ratio of 4.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $204.44 and a 12 month high of $261.54. The stock has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.52.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The biotechnology company reported $4.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.08. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 42.31%. The company had revenue of $614.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $575.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that United Therapeutics will post 23.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About United Therapeutics

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.