Insider Selling: United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Sells 4,560 Shares of Stock

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Tommy Thompson sold 4,560 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.36, for a total transaction of $1,839,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,420,492.80. The trade was a 34.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of UTHR opened at $405.02 on Friday. United Therapeutics Corporation has a twelve month low of $266.98 and a twelve month high of $436.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $318.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.56. The firm has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.62.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $802.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $136,453,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 90.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $254,219,000 after buying an additional 419,588 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 40.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,273,161 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $362,876,000 after buying an additional 364,713 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $101,354,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $83,533,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on UTHR shares. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $314.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $510.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $438.85.

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.