Michael Benkowitz Sells 10,000 Shares of United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $372.75, for a total value of $3,727,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $960,576.75. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Michael Benkowitz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 11th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $407.32, for a total transaction of $6,109,800.00.
• On Thursday, November 7th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.44, for a total transaction of $6,021,600.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ UTHR opened at $378.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $366.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $334.15. United Therapeutics Co. has a 12-month low of $208.62 and a 12-month high of $417.82.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $772,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $219,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 2.1% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in United Therapeutics by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 165,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,113,000 after buying an additional 9,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $315.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on United Therapeutics from $303.00 to $280.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.