United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $505.00.

UTHR has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $580.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $510.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $569.00 to $587.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR stock opened at $493.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $457.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $374.84. United Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $266.98 and a fifty-two week high of $496.73.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $7.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $799.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.87 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 40.65%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.35, for a total value of $9,367,875.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 608,037 shares of company stock valued at $274,519,153. 10.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. CWM LLC raised its holdings in United Therapeutics by 204.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,487 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP increased its position in United Therapeutics by 495.4% in the second quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 3,888 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 3,235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 77.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,084 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 2,655 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,532 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,612,000 after buying an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

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.