Analysts Set United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) Price Target at $646.00

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $646.00.

UTHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised United Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $575.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $685.00 to $687.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $515.00 price target on United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $704.00 to $677.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 2.4%

United Therapeutics stock opened at $515.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $530.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $538.70. The company has a market cap of $22.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.59. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $303.08 and a twelve month high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.86 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $783.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $804.65 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.56% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 26.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In related news, CFO James Edgemond sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.28, for a total transaction of $5,462,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,311,581.28. This represents a 34.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.39, for a total transaction of $5,143,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,333.07. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 424,075 shares of company stock valued at $227,336,485. 8.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 48.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 219,094 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,712,000 after purchasing an additional 71,495 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 55,526.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 33,288,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,036,953,000 after purchasing an additional 33,229,108 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,751 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 82.8% in the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 2,761 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,496,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $836,000. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.