United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, HC Wainwright Analyst Says

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at HC Wainwright from $400.00 to $425.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.63% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on UTHR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.86.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

UTHR stock opened at $374.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $377.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $355.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $316.65. The company has a current ratio of 4.35, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.62 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics will post 24.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,350.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 269 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.41, for a total transaction of $93,722.29. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $45,293.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.38, for a total value of $8,084,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,350.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 98,412 shares of company stock valued at $33,971,508 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $692,748,000 after purchasing an additional 22,978 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 82.5% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,837,000 after purchasing an additional 436,851 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22,683 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 561,834 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $178,972,000 after purchasing an additional 92,240 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $97,316,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.