United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $243.00 to $302.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. United Therapeutics traded as high as $377.93 and last traded at $375.51, with a volume of 17484 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $373.97.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded United Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $310.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $2,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,442,300. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,800 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $2,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,442,300. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.41, for a total value of $93,722.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,293.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,412 shares of company stock worth $33,971,508 in the last ninety days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $33,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.0 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $355.40 and a 200-day moving average of $316.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 4.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.75 EPS for the current year.

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.