OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK) Shares Gap Up to $1.07

OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $1.07, but opened at $1.13. OPKO Health shares last traded at $1.14, with a volume of 3,624,755 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on OPK. StockNews.com downgraded OPKO Health from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barrington Research reduced their target price on OPKO Health from $2.00 to $1.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $3.00 price target on shares of OPKO Health in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th.

OPKO Health Stock Up 10.7 %

The company has a market cap of $825.93 million, a P/E ratio of -4.74 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $0.98 and a 200-day moving average of $1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.09). OPKO Health had a negative return on equity of 12.69% and a negative net margin of 21.76%. The firm had revenue of $181.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.11) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that OPKO Health, Inc. will post -0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OPKO Health news, CEO Phillip Md Et Al Frost purchased 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction of $435,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,968,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,542,355.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other OPKO Health news, Vice Chairman Elias A. Zerhouni bought 550,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $0.93 per share, for a total transaction of $511,779.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,327,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,904,867.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillip Md Et Al Frost acquired 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $0.87 per share, with a total value of $435,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,968,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $183,542,355.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 8,993,015 shares of company stock valued at $8,479,069 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 47.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OPKO Health

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of OPKO Health by 56.7% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,688,831 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $95,250,000 after acquiring an additional 10,014,088 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in OPKO Health by 318.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,390,435 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,698,000 after purchasing an additional 5,624,866 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in OPKO Health by 300.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,164,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874,519 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in OPKO Health by 848.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,890,172 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,842,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in OPKO Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,042,000. 64.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.