Insider Selling: United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Sells $1,739,520.00 in Stock

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 4,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.88, for a total transaction of $1,739,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,534.40. This trade represents a 96.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

United Therapeutics stock opened at $453.07 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $356.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.01. The company has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 0.66. United Therapeutics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $266.98 and a fifty-two week high of $455.12.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by ($0.39). United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.36% and a return on equity of 18.73%. The company had revenue of $798.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $802.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $314.00 to $463.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $295.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $348.00 to $328.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $449.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 84.7% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,289 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

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.