United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Short Interest Up 18.8% in February

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, a growth of 18.8% from the February 13th total of 2,070,000 shares. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 403,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

United Therapeutics Price Performance

UTHR stock opened at $314.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.64. United Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $221.53 and a 12 month high of $417.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $348.15 and its 200 day moving average is $357.92.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.10 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $735.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total transaction of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,696.56. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.06, for a total transaction of $3,480,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,950.62. This trade represents a 79.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,255 shares of company stock worth $32,614,521 over the last 90 days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. 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.