Bank of America Upgrades United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) to Neutral

Bank of America upgraded shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $314.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on UTHR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $390.17.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of UTHR traded down $5.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $291.38. 311,498 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 447,512. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $233.31 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50-day moving average price is $310.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.99.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.71, for a total transaction of $3,707,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,319.67. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.18, for a total value of $3,367,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,781 shares in the company, valued at $11,261,606.58. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 84,500 shares of company stock worth $28,179,150. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UTHR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,567,253,000 after acquiring an additional 32,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $519,170,000 after acquiring an additional 393,777 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $401,184,000 after acquiring an additional 44,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $344,176,000 after purchasing an additional 7,710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

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.