Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in United Therapeutics Corporation $UTHR

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC has increased its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation by 65.4%, resulting in a position worth approximately $1.44 million after purchasing additional shares in the first quarter.
• Recent insider trading activity includes the sale of shares by Director Christopher Causey, who sold 3,000 shares for over $1.26 million, reducing his ownership by 38.14%.
• United Therapeutics' stock is currently rated as a Moderate Buy by analysts, with an average target price of $429.62, despite a recent miss on earnings expectations.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 65.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,664 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,844 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in United Therapeutics were worth $1,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in United Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $313,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 96.9% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 67,576 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $20,832,000 after buying an additional 33,254 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 77.3% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 25,246 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,783,000 after buying an additional 11,007 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 11.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,678 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $227,000. Institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UTHR. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $432.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $510.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $295.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $438.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Therapeutics news, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 22,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.64, for a total transaction of $9,396,900.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 8,000 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $398.55, for a total transaction of $3,188,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 130 shares in the company, valued at $51,811.50. This trade represents a 98.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 128,816 shares of company stock valued at $45,836,113. 10.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Performance

UTHR traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $405.02. The company had a trading volume of 626,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,508. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $307.56. The company has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.62. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 52-week low of $266.98 and a 52-week high of $436.95.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.80 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $798.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $802.13 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.36% and a return on equity of 18.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.