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

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $361.33.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UTHR. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of United Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $310.00 to $321.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

United Therapeutics stock opened at $370.26 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $351.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $309.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 4.35. The stock has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $208.62 and a fifty-two week high of $377.03.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $714.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $691.87 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.87% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 24.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Raymond Dwek sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total value of $1,626,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $569,362.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.38, for a total transaction of $8,084,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $833,350.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond Dwek sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total transaction of $1,626,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,750 shares in the company, valued at $569,362.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 106,412 shares of company stock worth $36,470,922. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in United Therapeutics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 120.0% in the second quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 14.0% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.8% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 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.