United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) CEO Martine Rothblatt Sells 9,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 United Therapeutics shares at an average price of $588.64, generating approximately $5.59 million. She retained 324,443 shares, valued at roughly $190.98 million.
• United Therapeutics authorized a $2 billion share-buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 8.3% of outstanding shares.
• The stock traded near $591.20, while analysts maintained a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $666.50; the company’s latest quarterly earnings exceeded estimates despite a 1.9% year-over-year revenue decline.

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) CEO Martine Rothblatt sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $588.64, for a total value of $5,592,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 324,443 shares in the company, valued at $190,980,127.52. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

United Therapeutics Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of UTHR traded down $1.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $591.20. 436,196 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 557,418. United Therapeutics Corporation has a twelve month low of $409.07 and a twelve month high of $609.35. The company has a market cap of $25.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $521.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $528.49.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $7.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.86 by $0.41. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 41.56% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $783.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $804.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.41 earnings per share. United Therapeutics's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 26.07 earnings per share for the current year.

United Therapeutics declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UTHR. UBS Group set a $725.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $515.00 to $566.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $717.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $850.00 price target on shares of United Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $728.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $666.50.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in United Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $2,868,735,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of United Therapeutics by 8.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 866,930 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $514,016,000 after purchasing an additional 70,829 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $450,140,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.7% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 327,122 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $193,977,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 309,220 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $183,306,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

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.

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