Insider Selling: United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Sells 9,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares on March 18 at an average price of $529.59, totaling about $5.03 million and reducing her stake by 19% to 40,513 shares (SEC filing).
• United Therapeutics posted Q earnings that beat EPS estimates ($7.70 vs. $6.78) though revenue missed consensus, and the stock trades near $527 with a market cap of ~$23.1B, a P/E of ~18.9, and an average analyst target of about $548 (majority rated Buy/Moderate Buy).

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of United Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.59, for a total transaction of $5,031,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,455,279.67. This represents a 19.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded down $3.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $527.00. 504,858 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 434,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.84. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 1-year low of $266.98 and a 1-year high of $548.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $488.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.99.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $7.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.78 by $0.92. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.94% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The firm had revenue of $790.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UTHR. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $423.00 to $466.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $525.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $548.09.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AXQ Capital LP boosted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 495.4% during the second quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 3,888 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 396.3% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,288 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 3,424 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Therapeutics by 194.7% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 2,975 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $444,000. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,351,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company's stock.

About United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics Corporation NASDAQ: UTHR is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique products to address life-threatening illnesses. The company's primary focus has been on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it has launched several therapies designed to improve functional capacity and quality of life for patients. Its marketed products include continuous infusion treprostinil (Remodulin), inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso), oral treprostinil (Orenitram) and tadalafil (Adcirca), each tailored to different modes of administration and patient needs.

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