Insider Selling: United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.95, for a total value of $3,619,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares in the company, valued at $932,745.15. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, November 25th, Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $372.75, for a total transaction of $3,727,500.00.
• On Monday, November 11th, Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.32, for a total value 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 value of $6,021,600.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of United Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total transaction of $5,504,562.00.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 0.9 %

UTHR stock traded up $3.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $364.10. 207,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 446,001. The business has a 50-day moving average of $371.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $347.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.55. United Therapeutics Co. has a 52 week low of $208.62 and a 52 week high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.16 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 25.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTHR. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 82.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 966,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,837,000 after acquiring an additional 436,851 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $139,206,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $386,168,000 after purchasing an additional 314,004 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $150,492,000 after purchasing an additional 152,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 97.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus boosted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.86.

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.