Morgan Stanley Downgrades United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) to Equal Weight

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $321.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $310.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential downside of 0.12% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.55.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $321.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $290.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.71. United Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $208.62 and a 52 week high of $330.00.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $6.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $677.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.31 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 42.05% and a return on equity of 18.72%. United Therapeutics’s revenue was up 33.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.91, for a total transaction of $856,476.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,928.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Christopher Causey sold 2,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.91, for a total value of $582,198.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,087,723.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.91, for a total value of $856,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $30,928.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,884 shares of company stock worth $27,931,991. Corporate insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Therapeutics by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,662,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,053,212,000 after purchasing an additional 20,373 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,950 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $123,566,000 after purchasing an additional 9,962 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 40.3% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 529,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $121,641,000 after purchasing an additional 152,151 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $100,519,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $97,316,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.