HC Wainwright Reiterates “Buy” Rating for United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR)

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $425.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 34.53% from the company’s previous close.

UTHR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.25.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

UTHR opened at $315.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $221.53 and a fifty-two week high of $417.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $361.17 and its 200 day moving average is $360.81.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $6.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.10 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $735.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $734.74 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 24.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 255 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.77, for a total value of $90,721.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,528 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,696.56. The trade was a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.76, for a total transaction of $3,607,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,678.52. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 124,164 shares of company stock valued at $45,278,893. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 663 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,108 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,214,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.