OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,960,000 shares, a drop of 70.0% from the March 31st total of 116,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days. Approximately 11.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on OPK shares. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $2.25 target price on shares of OPKO Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on OPKO Health in a research note on Friday. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $3.00 price objective on shares of OPKO Health in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of OPKO Health from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2.75.

Insider Activity at OPKO Health

In other OPKO Health news, CEO Phillip Md Et Al Frost bought 67,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.71 per share, for a total transaction of $115,312.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 213,301,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,745,476.08. The trade was a 0.03 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders bought 814,971 shares of company stock valued at $1,308,192 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 49.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OPKO Health

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OPK. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in OPKO Health by 85.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,588,526 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,745,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112,382 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of OPKO Health by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,548,667 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,342 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of OPKO Health in the fourth quarter valued at $2,082,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of OPKO Health in the fourth quarter valued at $1,657,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in OPKO Health by 136.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,647,567 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 949,671 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.63% of the company's stock.

OPKO Health Trading Down 3.4 %

OPK stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.41. 3,296,616 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,903,782. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 2.69. OPKO Health has a fifty-two week low of $1.15 and a fifty-two week high of $2.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $946.89 million, a P/E ratio of -7.42 and a beta of 1.78.

OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. OPKO Health had a negative net margin of 18.65% and a negative return on equity of 9.76%. The business had revenue of $183.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.42 million. Equities research analysts forecast that OPKO Health will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About OPKO Health

OPKO Health, Inc, a healthcare company, engages in the diagnostics and pharmaceuticals businesses in the United States, Ireland, Chile, Spain, Israel, Mexico, and internationally. The company's Diagnostics segment operates BioReference Laboratories that offers laboratory testing services for the detection, diagnosis, evaluation, monitoring, and treatment of diseases, including esoteric testing, molecular diagnostics, anatomical pathology, genetics, women's health, and correctional healthcare to physician offices, clinics, hospitals, employers, and governmental units; and 4Kscore prostate cancer test.

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