Short Interest in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Increases By 18.8%

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, a growth of 18.8% from the February 13th total of 2,070,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 403,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $318.85 on Thursday. United Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $221.53 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The company has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $347.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $357.65.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.95, for a total value of $3,619,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $932,745.15. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 90,255 shares of company stock valued at $32,614,521 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in United Therapeutics by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 14,332 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,615 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 347.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 4.1% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in United Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Therapeutics by 14.9% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,179 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on UTHR. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

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.