United Therapeutics Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:UTHR)

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 12,089 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 220% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,777 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UTHR. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on United Therapeutics from $677.00 to $708.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $728.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $368.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $642.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.06, for a total value of $4,902,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 324,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,432,054.58. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 383,728 shares of company stock worth $198,367,306. 8.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $2,868,735,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in United Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 866,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $514,016,000 after buying an additional 70,829 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in United Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $450,140,000. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 327,122 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $193,977,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 309,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,306,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ UTHR traded down $6.93 on Friday, reaching $534.58. The company had a trading volume of 292,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,278. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.49. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $409.07 and a 12 month high of $609.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $513.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $540.45.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.86 by $0.41. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.56% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $783.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $804.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 26.40 EPS for the current year.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation is a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and other serious cardiopulmonary conditions. The company’s products include Tyvaso and Tyvaso DPI, inhaled formulations of treprostinil; Remodulin, an injectable form of treprostinil; Orenitram, an oral treprostinil product; and Adcirca, a tadalafil-based PAH treatment.

United Therapeutics markets its therapies primarily in the United States and internationally through commercial and regulatory activities in additional markets.