Raymond James Financial Begins Coverage on United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR)

Analysts at Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $700.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.44% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $587.00 to $643.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $486.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $601.50.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $571.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day moving average is $516.68 and its 200 day moving average is $484.65. United Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $272.12 and a 52-week high of $607.89.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $7.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.78 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $790.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.80 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.94% and a return on equity of 19.30%. United Therapeutics’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 22,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.51, for a total value of $10,788,975.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.48, for a total transaction of $5,274,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,956,712.48. The trade was a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 387,270 shares of company stock worth $199,027,180 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,323 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,248 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,379,000 after buying an additional 2,289 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,619 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,767,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Tobam lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 9,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,803,000 after buying an additional 2,211 shares during the period. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $297,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key United Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting United Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James initiated/covered UTHR with an “outperform” rating and a $700 price target, implying roughly ~22% upside from the recent price — a material bullish catalyst for sentiment and valuing upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on UTHR to $519 (from $471), signaling incremental analyst confidence in the shares and helping underpin the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in the recent report show effectively zero reported short interest (appears anomalous/immaterial), so short‑squeeze dynamics are not a current driver. (Data point reported publicly.)
• Negative Sentiment: CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares (~$5.78M) on April 9 at an average $577.89; the sale was part of a Rule 10b5‑1 plan but reduces his direct stake by ~34.6% — multiple recent 10b5‑1 sales by the CFO may be viewed negatively by some investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares (~$5.51M) on April 8 at an average $580.45 under a pre‑arranged 10b5‑1 plan; while planned sales limit immediate governance concern, the size and timing add selling weight to headlines. Read More.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.