United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.54 EPS

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported $6.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.54, Briefing.com reports. United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 42.31%. The firm had revenue of $677.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.7% on a year-over-year basis.

United Therapeutics Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of United Therapeutics stock traded up $3.57 on Thursday, reaching $258.71. The company had a trading volume of 396,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,992. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 4.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $235.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.00. United Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $204.44 and a 1 year high of $261.54.

Insider Activity at United Therapeutics

In related news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.31, for a total transaction of $1,291,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,880,130.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.31, for a total transaction of $1,291,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,880,130.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total value of $847,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,595.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,190 shares of company stock worth $32,643,561 in the last quarter. 12.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on UTHR. StockNews.com cut United Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $308.00 price objective on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 5th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.00.

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.