Short Interest in United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Drops By 14.3%

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, a decline of 14.3% from the December 31st total of 2,240,000 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 317,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Argus lifted their target price on United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Judy D. Olian sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.48, for a total value of $721,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,332,574.40. This represents a 23.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.32, for a total transaction of $6,109,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,838 shares of company stock worth $50,445,556. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,094,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $391,459,000 after buying an additional 45,566 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in United Therapeutics by 41.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,077,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $386,168,000 after acquiring an additional 314,004 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in United Therapeutics by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 597,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $210,869,000 after acquiring an additional 30,931 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in United Therapeutics by 12.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 460,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,978,000 after acquiring an additional 50,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in United Therapeutics by 56.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 419,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $150,492,000 after purchasing an additional 152,249 shares during the period. 94.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of UTHR stock traded up $4.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $356.86. 63,721 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 278,468. The company has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $208.62 and a 52-week high of $417.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $365.47 and a 200 day moving average of $356.78.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that United Therapeutics will post 25.22 EPS for the current year.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

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.