United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) Receives $549.91 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $549.9091.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on UTHR shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $587.00 to $643.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $466.00 to $486.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 29th.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of UTHR opened at $522.83 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $495.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.65. United Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $266.98 and a fifty-two week high of $549.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.84.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $7.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.78 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $790.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.80 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.94% and a return on equity of 19.30%. United Therapeutics’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.91, for a total transaction of $4,654,145.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 130 shares in the company, valued at $63,688.30. The trade was a 98.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.48, for a total transaction of $5,274,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,956,712.48. The trade was a 34.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 336,820 shares of company stock valued at $166,359,058 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,606,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,269,803,000 after buying an additional 383,838 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 74.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,441,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,189,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,711 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,281,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $624,508,000 after acquiring an additional 295,221 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 90.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 884,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $254,219,000 after acquiring an additional 419,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 796,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $387,801,000 after acquiring an additional 341,383 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.