United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09, RTT News reports. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.36 earnings per share.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 10.3 %

NASDAQ:UTHR traded down $36.94 on Wednesday, hitting $320.56. The stock had a trading volume of 205,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,848. United Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $221.53 and a 52 week high of $417.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $361.95 and its 200 day moving average is $361.11. The company has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UTHR. Argus upped their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 7,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.37, for a total value of $2,882,649.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,122.70. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 124,164 shares of company stock valued at $45,278,893. Corporate insiders own 11.90% 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.