United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Short Interest Up 18.8% in February

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, an increase of 18.8% from the February 13th total of 2,070,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 403,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

UTHR stock opened at $314.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $357.92. The company has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the business’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 transaction of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.95, for a total transaction of $3,619,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,745.15. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 90,255 shares of company stock worth $32,614,521 in the last 90 days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 35.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,999,000 after buying an additional 50,291 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its position in United Therapeutics by 113.3% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 23,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,441,000 after acquiring an additional 12,705 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after acquiring an additional 123,929 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on UTHR shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.25.

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.