United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $218.00 to $240.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. United Therapeutics traded as high as $262.51 and last traded at $262.40, with a volume of 779488 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $258.13.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on UTHR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $309.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on United Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.31, for a total value of $1,291,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,880,130.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.31, for a total transaction of $1,291,860.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,880,130.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.09, for a total transaction of $929,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,551.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 141,790 shares of company stock worth $33,572,685. Insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,519,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 677.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 300,920 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,422,000 after purchasing an additional 262,222 shares during the period. Avidity Partners Management LP acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,158,000. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,697.2% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 156,587 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,368,000 after purchasing an additional 150,989 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 309.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 134,162 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,501,000 after purchasing an additional 101,419 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.28 and a current ratio of 3.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $236.86 and a 200-day moving average of $229.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.54.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported $6.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.54. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 42.05%. The business had revenue of $677.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. United Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 23.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

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.