Insider Selling: United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Sells 255 Shares of Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Nilda Mesa also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 8th, Nilda Mesa sold 224 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $92,350.72.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of UTHR traded down $4.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $352.84. 266,757 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 443,397. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.55. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $370.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $349.43.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 82.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,837,000 after purchasing an additional 436,851 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $139,206,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $386,168,000 after acquiring an additional 314,004 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 56.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $150,492,000 after purchasing an additional 152,249 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UTHR. StockNews.com raised shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.86.

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.