United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $243.00 to $302.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. United Therapeutics traded as high as $377.93 and last traded at $375.51, with a volume of 17484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.97.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on UTHR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut United Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $310.00 to $321.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $370.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $2,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,442,300. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.45, for a total transaction of $1,171,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,308.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $2,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,442,300. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,412 shares of company stock valued at $33,971,508. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UTHR. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $692,748,000 after acquiring an additional 22,978 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,837,000 after buying an additional 436,851 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 585,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $186,656,000 after acquiring an additional 22,683 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 561,834 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $178,972,000 after acquiring an additional 92,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $97,316,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $355.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $316.65. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 4.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $748.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.38 EPS. United Therapeutics’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.