United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Short Interest Update

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,830,000 shares, a decrease of 25.6% from the February 28th total of 2,460,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 444,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $306.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $221.53 and a 52 week high of $417.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $340.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.78.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total transaction of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,696.56. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.68, for a total transaction of $3,566,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $919,164.36. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 82,755 shares of company stock valued at $29,792,021. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

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

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.