United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Up 7% – Still a Buy?

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) shares traded up 7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $516.75 and last traded at $515.2770. 232,095 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 514,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $481.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on UTHR. Morgan Stanley set a $515.00 price target on United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. They set a “sell” rating and a $321.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $704.00 to $677.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $621.00.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average is $508.90 and its 200-day moving average is $539.33. The company has a market capitalization of $22.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.56.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.86 by $0.41. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.56% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $783.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $804.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.21 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.37, for a total value of $4,962,515.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 324,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,479,289.91. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 365,053 shares of company stock worth $188,089,856. 8.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $2,868,735,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $450,140,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $293,418,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $159,522,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $154,304,000. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation is a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and other serious cardiopulmonary conditions. The company’s products include Tyvaso and Tyvaso DPI, inhaled formulations of treprostinil; Remodulin, an injectable form of treprostinil; Orenitram, an oral treprostinil product; and Adcirca, a tadalafil-based PAH treatment.

United Therapeutics markets its therapies primarily in the United States and internationally through commercial and regulatory activities in additional markets.