Insider Selling: United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Sells $4,669,915.00 in Stock

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.57, for a total transaction of $4,669,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 324,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,486,445.51. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded down $17.21 on Thursday, hitting $472.21. 545,258 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,099. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $513.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $540.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.56. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 1-year low of $409.07 and a 1-year high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.86 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $783.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $804.65 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 41.56%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.41 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,868,735,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in United Therapeutics by 8.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 866,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $514,016,000 after purchasing an additional 70,829 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $450,140,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $293,418,000. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 327,122 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $193,977,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on UTHR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $515.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $704.00 to $677.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating and a $321.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut United Therapeutics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $621.00.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for serious and life-threatening conditions, with a primary emphasis on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company’s products are designed to improve pulmonary blood flow and reduce the effects of this progressive disease.

United Therapeutics’ PAH portfolio includes Remodulin (treprostinil) injection, Orenitram (treprostinil) extended-release tablets, and Tyvaso (treprostinil), which is available as an inhalation solution and as the Tyvaso DPI dry-powder inhaler.