United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.36 EPS.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 11.1 %

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $318.00 on Thursday. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $361.17 and a 200-day moving average of $360.81. The firm has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.25.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.06, for a total transaction of $3,480,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,950.62. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.37, for a total value of $2,882,649.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,122.70. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 124,164 shares of company stock worth $45,278,893 in the last ninety days. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.