United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.48 EPS

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.48), Briefing.com reports. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 42.05%. The company had revenue of $714.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $691.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR traded up $14.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $327.79. The company had a trading volume of 666,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 495,467. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $343.98. 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 has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $307.24 and its 200 day moving average is $260.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UTHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley cut United Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $310.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher Causey sold 2,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.91, for a total value of $582,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,087,723.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher Causey sold 2,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.91, for a total value of $582,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,087,723.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.22, for a total transaction of $951,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,348.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 100,884 shares of company stock worth $30,280,055. Corporate insiders own 12.50% 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.