StockNews.com Downgrades United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on UTHR. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $308.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 5th. They set an outperform rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $309.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $294.40.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ UTHR opened at $229.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.41, a quick ratio of 4.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.41. United Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $204.44 and a 1 year high of $261.54.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The biotechnology company reported $4.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.08. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 42.31% and a return on equity of 17.72%. The business had revenue of $614.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $575.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 23.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.33, for a total transaction of $3,724,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,282.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.33, for a total value of $3,724,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,282.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.45, for a total transaction of $1,418,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,680,079.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,680 shares of company stock valued at $17,886,630 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 155.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 38,698 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,427,000 after acquiring an additional 23,532 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $3,340,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 362.4% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,433 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 4,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $15,447,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.