United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Earns "Equal Weight" Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating restated by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $314.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their previous price target of $395.00. Wells Fargo & Company's target price suggests a potential upside of 5.71% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of United Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised shares of United Therapeutics from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $314.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $357.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $390.17.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of UTHR stock traded up $5.66 on Friday, reaching $297.04. The stock had a trading volume of 410,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,897. The firm's 50-day moving average is $307.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.63. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $233.31 and a 12 month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.78, for a total value of $3,121,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,437,712.18. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond Dwek sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.57, for a total value of $856,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $499,747.50. The trade was a 63.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,500 shares of company stock valued at $24,472,050 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake 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 worth $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $151,764,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 36.5% in 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. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $101,354,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 29,415.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 221,954 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $68,422,000 after acquiring an additional 221,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.