United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt Sells 9,500 Shares of Stock

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.09, for a total value of $5,700,855.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 324,443 shares in the company, valued at $194,694,999.87. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.4%

UTHR traded down $2.59 on Monday, hitting $596.13. 402,365 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 555,103. United Therapeutics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $430.02 and a fifty-two week high of $609.99. The stock has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $527.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $530.54.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.86 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $783.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $804.65 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.56% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.09 EPS for the current year.

United Therapeutics announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $2 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $717.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on United Therapeutics from $708.00 to $697.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $368.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings cut United Therapeutics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $725.00 target price on United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $667.07.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $2,868,735,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 866,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $514,016,000 after acquiring an additional 70,829 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $450,140,000. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 327,122 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $193,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $159,522,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with life-threatening conditions, particularly pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company’s portfolio includes Tyvaso and Tyvaso DPI, inhaled formulations of treprostinil; Remodulin, an injectable treprostinil product; and Orenitram, an oral treprostinil therapy. These treatments are designed to improve exercise ability and delay disease progression in people with PAH.

The company also markets Unituxin, an antibody therapy used as part of treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer.