Insider Selling: United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Sells 3,600 Shares of Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.05, for a total transaction of $835,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,166.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of UTHR traded up $3.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $235.31. 372,437 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 431,190. The company has a current ratio of 4.41, a quick ratio of 4.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.33. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $204.44 and a 52 week high of $261.54. The company has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.52.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The biotechnology company reported $4.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $614.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $575.01 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 42.31% and a return on equity of 17.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Co. will post 23.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in United Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $48,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 196 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on UTHR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of United Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $213.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $309.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.67.

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.