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

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

UTHR has been the subject of several other research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $308.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $309.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. 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 research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $312.22.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.2 %

UTHR opened at $288.06 on Wednesday. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $288.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a current ratio of 3.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $259.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.99. The firm has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.49.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $6.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $677.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.31 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 42.05% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business’s revenue was up 33.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics will post 24.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Christopher Causey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.53, for a total value of $563,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,178,203.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher Causey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.53, for a total value of $563,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,178,203.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.59, for a total transaction of $3,548,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $30,756.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 177,128 shares of company stock valued at $43,561,905. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $475,000. Burney Co. increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 119.1% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 22,449 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,157,000 after buying an additional 12,205 shares in the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $1,839,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $97,316,000. Finally, Delphi Management Inc. MA acquired a new position in United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $1,357,000. 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.