Brokerages Set United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Target Price at $392.00

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $392.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on UTHR. Bank of America upgraded United Therapeutics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $314.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $346.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $314.00 price objective (down previously from $395.00) on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on United Therapeutics from $355.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

United Therapeutics stock opened at $307.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.58. United Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $260.41 and a fifty-two week high of $417.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.62.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.29 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $794.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $726.82 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. United Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at $2,703,424. This represents a 22.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.93, for a total transaction of $3,310,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,068,506.33. This trade represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,500 shares of company stock valued at $24,245,880. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $393,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in United Therapeutics by 33.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,803 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in United Therapeutics by 97.7% during 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 192,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,999,000 after buying an additional 50,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

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.