Michael Benkowitz Sells 15,000 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.32, for a total value of $6,109,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Thursday, November 7th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.44, for a total value of $6,021,600.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

United Therapeutics stock opened at $400.87 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $360.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $325.71. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1-year low of $208.62 and a 1-year high of $417.82. The company has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.56.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,886 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 566,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $203,078,000 after buying an additional 4,869 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in United Therapeutics by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 32,092 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,500,000 after acquiring an additional 12,566 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.