Brokerages Set United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Target Price at $388.25

Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $388.25.

Several brokerages have commented on UTHR. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.2 %

UTHR stock opened at $312.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $345.10 and a 200 day moving average of $356.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $221.53 and a 52 week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $734.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.