United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 40.87%. United Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.38 EPS.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of UTHR stock traded up $12.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $373.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 585,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 466,846. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics has a one year low of $208.62 and a one year high of $377.03. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $354.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.69. The company has a current ratio of 4.35, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 269 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.41, for a total transaction of $93,722.29. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $45,293.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 25,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.38, for a total transaction of $8,084,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $833,350.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 269 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.41, for a total value of $93,722.29. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $45,293.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 107,012 shares of company stock worth $36,767,286. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UTHR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut United Therapeutics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $310.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $366.43.

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.