Brokerages Set United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Target Price at $388.25

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $388.25.

Several research firms have weighed in on UTHR. StockNews.com lowered United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.06, for a total value of $3,480,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,950.62. This represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Louis W. Sullivan sold 26,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total transaction of $9,781,722.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,885,134.22. The trade was a 83.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,464 shares of company stock valued at $42,396,244 in the last three months. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UTHR. Milestone Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,999,000 after purchasing an additional 50,291 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 113.3% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 23,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,532,000 after purchasing an additional 123,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 5.1 %

UTHR opened at $322.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $349.12 and a 200-day moving average of $358.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $221.53 and a 12-month high of $417.82.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.