United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $357.50, but opened at $343.53. United Therapeutics shares last traded at $319.43, with a volume of 235,781 shares trading hands.

Specifically, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total transaction of $3,607,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,678.52. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UTHR has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus boosted their target price on United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. HC Wainwright raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 10.6 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $361.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $361.11. The stock has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UTHR. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,462,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,313,424 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,567,253,000 after buying an additional 32,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $519,170,000 after buying an additional 393,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $401,184,000 after buying an additional 44,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $344,176,000 after acquiring an additional 7,710 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

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.