Opko Health Stock Volatile Again After SEC Settlement

Both the company and its CEO have agreed to pay a fine to settle civil charges

The shares of Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) are up 28.1% to trade at $3.31, afterthe biotech's Chairman and CEO Philip Frost agreed to a $5.52 million settlement with U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) over a civil suit alleging penny stock "pump-and-dump" schemes. Opko Health was also fined.

It's been a volatile stretch for the stock, per its 120-day historical volatility of 88%, which registers in the elevated 97th annual percentile. In fact, the shares had a one-day gain of 20.6% as recently as Nov. 12, but also dropped 11.5% back on Nov. 9. Plus, OPK slid to an eight-year low of $2.34 yesterday.

This negative price action has certainly rewarded short sellers, who have started closing out of their winning bets. Short interest fell 6.1% in the most recent reporting period, but the 62.29 million OPK shares still sold short accounts for one-fifth of the stock's available float, or 14.8 times the average daily pace of trading.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, just three analysts cover Opko Health and their opinions of the drug stock vary, with one maintaining a "strong buy," one a "hold," and one a "strong sell." The average 12-month price target, meanwhile is perched squarely at $10 -- a 250% premium to OPK stock's current perch.