United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UTHR. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus increased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, United Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.86.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3 %

United Therapeutics stock opened at $352.84 on Monday. United Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $208.62 and a 52 week high of $417.82. The stock has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $370.07 and a 200-day moving average of $349.90.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that United Therapeutics will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $2,771,078.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,900,005.76. This represents a 59.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $964,983.42. This represents a 85.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 150,216 shares of company stock valued at $56,269,811 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management grew its position in United Therapeutics by 82.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,837,000 after buying an additional 436,851 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $139,206,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $386,168,000 after purchasing an additional 314,004 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 56.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $150,492,000 after purchasing an additional 152,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the period. 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.