Martine Rothblatt Sells 9,500 Shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Stock

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.40, for a total transaction of $5,247,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,513 shares in the company, valued at $22,379,381.20. This represents a 19.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded down $14.88 on Thursday, hitting $536.59. 1,645,718 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,354. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $565.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $522.96. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 52 week low of $272.12 and a 52 week high of $609.35. The company has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.57.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by ($1.18). The firm had revenue of $781.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.40 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.62% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UTHR. Arjuna Capital grew its stake in United Therapeutics by 2.8% in the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 662 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 8.9% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 474 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 465 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on UTHR. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $655.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $525.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $707.00 to $701.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $569.00 to $626.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.42.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company’s primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.