Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Stock

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $701.00 to $704.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 25.74% from the company’s current price.

UTHR has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $569.00 to $626.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $516.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $525.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $619.67.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded up $12.65 on Tuesday, hitting $559.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 169,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,720. The company has a market capitalization of $23.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.58. United Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $272.12 and a 1 year high of $609.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $557.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $528.36.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by ($1.18). United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 40.62%.The business had revenue of $781.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 26.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In other news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.18, for a total value of $5,771,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,876 shares in the company, valued at $10,894,849.68. This trade represents a 34.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 622,718 shares of company stock worth $350,859,876 over the last ninety days. 8.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 60 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 55.9% in the second quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 106 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 76.7% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 106 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About United Therapeutics

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.