United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Leerink Partners Analyst Says

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Leerink Partners from $685.00 to $725.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Leerink Partners’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 33.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on UTHR. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $368.00 target price on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on United Therapeutics from $515.00 to $566.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $728.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on United Therapeutics from $620.00 to $613.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of United Therapeutics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.00.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of UTHR stock traded up $7.97 on Monday, hitting $541.09. The stock had a trading volume of 37,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,640. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $409.07 and a twelve month high of $609.35. The firm has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $513.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $540.06.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.86 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $783.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $804.65 million. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 41.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.41 EPS. On average, analysts expect that United Therapeutics will post 26.40 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.06, for a total transaction of $4,902,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 324,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,432,054.58. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 392,028 shares of company stock valued at $202,884,996. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UTHR. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 50 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in United Therapeutics by 426.7% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in United Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with life-threatening conditions, particularly pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company’s portfolio includes Tyvaso and Tyvaso DPI, inhaled formulations of treprostinil; Remodulin, an injectable treprostinil product; and Orenitram, an oral treprostinil therapy. These treatments are designed to improve exercise ability and delay disease progression in people with PAH.

The company also markets Unituxin, an antibody therapy used as part of treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer.