United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $378.36.

A number of research firms have recently commented on UTHR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $407.32, for a total transaction of $6,109,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy D. Olian sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.48, for a total value of $721,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,655 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,574.40. This trade represents a 23.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 133,838 shares of company stock valued at $50,445,556. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,562,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $375,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 8,565 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,728,000 after buying an additional 2,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 5.5 %

NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $352.30 on Friday. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $208.62 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $365.47 and its 200 day moving average is $356.78. The company has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.57.

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