United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Short Interest Down 14.3% in January

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, a drop of 14.3% from the December 31st total of 2,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 317,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UTHR. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on United Therapeutics from $243.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised United Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their target price on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Nilda Mesa sold 224 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total transaction of $92,350.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,384,215.24. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.71, for a total value of $3,707,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $955,319.67. The trade was a 79.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,838 shares of company stock worth $50,445,556 in the last quarter. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in United Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of United Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in United Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $82,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in United Therapeutics by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ UTHR traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $351.17. 414,604 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 251,464. United Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $208.62 and a 52 week high of $417.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $365.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $356.94. The company has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.57.

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