Insider Selling: United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Sells $9,781,722.98 in Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $9,781,722.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,134.22. This trade represents a 83.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $359.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $417.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $371.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $344.95.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UTHR shares. HC Wainwright increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com lowered United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.86.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 120.0% during the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 77 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

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.