OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• OPKO Health, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from six research firms, with an average 12-month price target of $2.75.
• Despite these positive ratings, OPKO Health reported a significant earnings miss for the last quarter, posting a loss of ($0.19) EPS compared to analysts' expectations of ($0.12).
• CEO Phillip Frost recently acquired 675,000 shares of the company's stock, indicating strong insider confidence despite ongoing challenges.

OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $2.75.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of OPKO Health from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of OPKO Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

OPKO Health Stock Up 1.5%

OPK stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1.38. 1,964,404 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,161,245. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -5.52 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. OPKO Health has a twelve month low of $1.11 and a twelve month high of $2.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.45.

OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). OPKO Health had a negative net margin of 26.68% and a negative return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $156.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that OPKO Health will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Phillip Md Et Al Frost acquired 675,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.32 per share, for a total transaction of $891,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 214,676,448 shares in the company, valued at $283,372,911.36. This trade represents a 0.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 49.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of OPKO Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of OPKO Health by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 916,368 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 373,032 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of OPKO Health in the 1st quarter worth approximately $585,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of OPKO Health by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,500,071 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,970,000 after acquiring an additional 293,740 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of OPKO Health by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 581,582 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 282,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of OPKO Health by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,647,567 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 949,671 shares in the last quarter. 64.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OPKO Health Company Profile

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.