United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Sells $3,649,100.00 in Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.91, for a total value of $3,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $940,373.07. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Michael Benkowitz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 13th, Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.62, for a total transaction of $3,646,200.00.
• On Monday, December 30th, Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.68, for a total transaction of $3,566,800.00.
• On Monday, December 23rd, Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.95, for a total value of $3,619,500.00.
• On Monday, November 25th, Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.75, for a total value of $3,727,500.00.
• On Monday, November 11th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $407.32, for a total value of $6,109,800.00.
• On Thursday, November 7th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.44, for a total transaction of $6,021,600.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR traded up $3.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $371.28. 318,242 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 296,211. United Therapeutics Co. has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $417.82. The firm has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $365.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.01.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $210,869,000 after acquiring an additional 30,931 shares in the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 123,055 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,169 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,745 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on UTHR. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.36.

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.