United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.36.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $366.39 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $369.14 and its 200 day moving average is $353.37. United Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $208.62 and a 52 week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.99, for a total transaction of $2,855,916.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,358,277.74. This represents a 54.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 224 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total transaction of $92,350.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,384,215.24. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,630 shares of company stock worth $54,371,916 over the last three months. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UTHR. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $90,000. 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.