United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on UTHR. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Argus lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.86.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR opened at $360.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $371.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $344.37. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. United Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics will post 25.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.36, for a total value of $2,828,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,710 shares in the company, valued at $13,485,785.60. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 224 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $92,350.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,783 shares in the company, valued at $2,384,215.24. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 145,549 shares of company stock valued at $54,547,253 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tri Locum Partners LP bought a new position in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $15,959,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in United Therapeutics by 384.3% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 61,755 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $22,130,000 after buying an additional 49,003 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 1.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $692,748,000 after buying an additional 22,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 6.4% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 68,605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,585,000 after acquiring an additional 4,145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.