Opko Health Inc. (OPK): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Undecided, What Should You Do?

Should Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK) investors track the following data?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of metrics market participants can use to monitor their holdings. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can trounce the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as necessary, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the marketplace. Obviously, there are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to study the latest info surrounding Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK).

What does the smart money think about Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 14% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management had the largest position in Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK), worth close to $1 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. On Millennium Management’s heels is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $0.9 million call position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital and Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management.

As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Tang Capital Management, managed by Kevin C. Tang, initiated the most valuable position in Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK). Tang Capital Management had 30.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new OPK investors: Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, and Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital.

What have insiders been doing with Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK). These stocks are Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRO), Mine Safety Appliances (NYSE:MSA), Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN), STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE), and Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH). This group of stocks are the members of the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps resemble OPK’s market cap.