United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Sells $5,143,205.00 in Stock

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $541.39, for a total value of $5,143,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,333.07. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR traded up $3.61 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $549.57. The company had a trading volume of 332,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,203. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 1-year low of $272.12 and a 1-year high of $609.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $566.75 and its 200-day moving average is $521.65.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.00 by ($1.18). The company had revenue of $781.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.62% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,269,803,000 after buying an additional 383,838 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 74.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,441,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,189,617,000 after buying an additional 1,042,711 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,281,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $624,508,000 after buying an additional 295,221 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 8.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 866,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $514,016,000 after buying an additional 70,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Global Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $317,617,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on UTHR. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $525.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $575.00 to $735.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $619.42.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.