United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Sells $5,504,562.00 in Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total value of $5,504,562.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $964,983.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Michael Benkowitz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 7th, Michael Benkowitz sold 25,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.38, for a total value of $8,084,500.00.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of UTHR opened at $397.49 on Thursday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $399.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $356.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.83.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.57 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UTHR. TD Cowen increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $370.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ClariVest Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 120.0% during the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

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.