Insider Selling: United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Sells 9,500 Shares of Stock

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.90, for a total value of $5,072,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,629,890.70. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR stock traded up $5.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $540.02. The company had a trading volume of 402,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 433,971. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $487.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $463.88. The company has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.84. United Therapeutics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $266.98 and a fifty-two week high of $548.12.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $7.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.78 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $790.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.80 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 41.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UTHR shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $423.00 to $466.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.09.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 74.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,441,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,189,617,000 after buying an additional 1,042,711 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Global Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $317,617,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $293,418,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 90.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $254,219,000 after acquiring an additional 419,588 shares during the period. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,269,803,000 after acquiring an additional 383,838 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 (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.