StockNews.com Downgrades United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on UTHR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded United Therapeutics from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the company from $213.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $309.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on United Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 5th. They issued an outperform rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an outperform rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $294.40.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $229.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.28 and a current ratio of 4.41. United Therapeutics has a one year low of $204.44 and a one year high of $261.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $225.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.41.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The biotechnology company reported $4.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.08. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 42.31%. The firm had revenue of $614.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $575.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.67 EPS. United Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 23.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Therapeutics news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.01, for a total value of $1,290,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,869,150.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other United Therapeutics news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.01, for a total value of $1,290,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,869,150.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.59, for a total value of $3,548,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,756.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,680 shares of company stock worth $17,886,630 in the last three months. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,096,685 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,125,093,000 after purchasing an additional 344,724 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,662,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,053,212,000 after purchasing an additional 20,373 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,875,758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $414,074,000 after purchasing an additional 80,656 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,675,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $300,585,000 after purchasing an additional 710,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,381 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,758,000 after purchasing an additional 47,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

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.