Opko Health Stock Set to Open Lower After Trial Suspended

The shares are trading down almost 4% ahead of the bell

The shares of Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) are down 3.8% in electronic trading, after the Florida-based diagnostics firm said its suspending a mid-stage trial studying OPK-88004, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) used on patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. This is offsetting news the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the company's prostate specific antigen test.

Heading into today's trading, OPK stock had made strides off its late-December low of $2.34 -- up 57.3% to last night's close at $3.68. However, this rally ran out of steam near $3.90, a level that's contained the security since last October. Plus, the shares remain well off their July 17 annual high of $6.40.

Analysts have been slow to initiate coverage on Opko Health stock. Just two brokerages follow the stock, with one maintaining a "strong buy," and the other a tepid "hold." The average 12-month price target, meanwhile, sits all the way up at $10 -- territory the security hasn't charted since late 2016.

Short sellers will certainly be cheering, should today's price action pan out. While OPK stock is likely headed to the short-sale restricted list today, these bearish bettors control 59.3 million shares, representing 19.2% of the equity's float, or 12.5 times the average daily pace of trading.