United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $432.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 342,862 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the previous session’s volume of 488,296 shares.The stock last traded at $350.07 and had previously closed at $355.59.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $270.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.41, for a total transaction of $93,722.29. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $45,293.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 269 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.41, for a total transaction of $93,722.29. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,293.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.45, for a total transaction of $1,153,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,658.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 107,056 shares of company stock valued at $35,319,164. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in United Therapeutics by 1.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,174,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $692,748,000 after purchasing an additional 22,978 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,837,000 after purchasing an additional 436,851 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 585,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $186,656,000 after buying an additional 22,683 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 561,834 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $178,972,000 after buying an additional 92,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $97,316,000. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $339.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 4.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $5.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $714.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $691.87 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.87% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.