United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Sells $3,566,800.00 in Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.68, for a total value of $3,566,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $919,164.36. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Michael Benkowitz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 23rd, Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.95, for a total transaction of $3,619,500.00.
• On Monday, November 25th, Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.75, for a total transaction of $3,727,500.00.
• On Monday, November 11th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.32, for a total transaction of $6,109,800.00.
• On Thursday, November 7th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.44, for a total transaction of $6,021,600.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of UTHR stock opened at $352.84 on Thursday. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $208.62 and a 1 year high of $417.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $370.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $349.90. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $370.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UTHR. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 582 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,851 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,182,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,470,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $234,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 17,750 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,654,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. 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.