United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Receives $388.25 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $388.25.

UTHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total transaction of $3,646,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $939,625.74. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,500 shares of company stock valued at $30,640,680 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,462,018,000 after acquiring an additional 18,313,424 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $151,764,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $519,170,000 after purchasing an additional 393,777 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 29,415.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 221,954 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $68,422,000 after purchasing an additional 221,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1,325.5% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 204,299 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $72,085,000 after purchasing an additional 189,967 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $281.16. 670,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 453,395. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $323.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $351.09. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $230.39 and a twelve month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.