Insider Selling: United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Sells 9,500 Shares

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.35, for a total value of $4,772,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 324,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,983,941.05. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:UTHR traded down $6.66 on Friday, reaching $497.20. The stock had a trading volume of 359,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,314. The company has a market cap of $21.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $522.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $540.60. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 12-month low of $396.12 and a 12-month high of $609.35.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.86 by $0.41. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,217,000. Leuthold Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 10,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,200,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 478.5% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 4,553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 3,766 shares in the last quarter. Havemeyer Place LP acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,189,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP bought a new position in United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $633,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on UTHR shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $515.00 price target on United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings cut United Therapeutics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $685.00 to $687.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on United Therapeutics from $704.00 to $677.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.00.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for serious and life-threatening conditions, with a primary emphasis on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company’s products are designed to improve pulmonary blood flow and reduce the effects of this progressive disease.

United Therapeutics’ PAH portfolio includes Remodulin (treprostinil) injection, Orenitram (treprostinil) extended-release tablets, and Tyvaso (treprostinil), which is available as an inhalation solution and as the Tyvaso DPI dry-powder inhaler.