United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Tommy G. Thompson Sells 2,500 Shares

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Director Tommy G. Thompson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.80, for a total value of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,703,424. This trade represents a 22.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UTHR opened at $316.73 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $343.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $356.63. United Therapeutics Co. has a 1 year low of $221.53 and a 1 year high of $417.82. The company has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics Co. will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UTHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 2,090,573.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,314,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,462,018,000 after acquiring an additional 18,313,424 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,441,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,567,253,000 after purchasing an additional 32,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $519,170,000 after purchasing an additional 393,777 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $401,184,000 after buying an additional 44,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $344,176,000 after buying an additional 7,710 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.