Insider Selling: United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Sells 25,000 Shares of Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Michael Benkowitz sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.38, for a total transaction of $8,084,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,350.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2 %

UTHR opened at $330.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $313.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 4.35 and a quick ratio of 4.18. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $343.98.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $714.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $691.87 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.87% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The company’s revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on UTHR shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.73.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UTHR. ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 120.0% during the second quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $30,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.