United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

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

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UTHR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total value of $3,607,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,678.52. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total transaction of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,464 shares of company stock worth $42,396,244 over the last ninety days. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Milestone Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in United Therapeutics by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in United Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,326,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 35.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $68,999,000 after buying an additional 50,291 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 113.3% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 23,922 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,441,000 after acquiring an additional 12,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $89,532,000 after acquiring an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of UTHR traded up $1.85 on Friday, hitting $307.24. 494,807 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 444,109. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's 50 day moving average is $349.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $358.54. United Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $221.53 and a 1 year high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

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.