Oscar Health (NYSE:OSCR) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Oscar Health, Inc. (NYSE:OSCR) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $20.50, but opened at $22.25. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $20.00 price target on the stock. Oscar Health shares last traded at $23.0750, with a volume of 2,108,287 shares.

OSCR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Oscar Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Oscar Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Oscar Health from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Oscar Health from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Oscar Health from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

Insider Activity at Oscar Health

In other Oscar Health news, CAO Victoria Baltrus sold 1,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.94, for a total value of $33,414.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 214,589 shares in the company, valued at $4,708,082.66. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Adam Mcananey sold 9,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.94, for a total transaction of $216,306.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 218,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,026.24. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 189,660 shares of company stock valued at $4,283,140 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 24.39% of the company’s stock.

Key Oscar Health News

Here are the key news stories impacting Oscar Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Oscar Health from “strong sell” to “hold”, easing bearish sentiment even though its $20 target remains below the current share price. Zacks.com
• Positive Sentiment: Oscar Health’s recent earnings showed a major EPS beat, which supports the stock’s fundamental story despite revenue coming in below estimates.
• Neutral Sentiment: A company co-founder shifting into an advisory leadership role looks like an internal reorganization rather than a disruptive change. Oscar Health Co-Founder Shifts to Advisory Leadership Role
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple insiders, including CFO Richard Scott Blackley and CAO Victoria Baltrus, sold shares under pre-planned 10b5-1 programs to cover tax obligations on vested equity awards, which is less concerning than discretionary selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Mario Schlosser sold 34,120 shares, the largest insider sale in the latest batch, which may pressure sentiment even though it was pre-arranged.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oscar Health

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oscar Health by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,701,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,477,000 after purchasing an additional 540,851 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oscar Health by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,217,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,461,000 after purchasing an additional 910,320 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Oscar Health by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,814,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043,758 shares during the period. Thrive Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Oscar Health by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Thrive Capital Management LLC now owns 6,343,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588,395 shares during the period. Finally, BIT Capital GmbH boosted its position in shares of Oscar Health by 545.0% in the fourth quarter. BIT Capital GmbH now owns 6,186,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,897,000 after purchasing an additional 5,227,152 shares during the period. 75.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oscar Health Trading Up 4.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 2.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Oscar Health (NYSE:OSCR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.96. Oscar Health had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a negative return on equity of 3.26%. The business had revenue of $4.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 52.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Oscar Health, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

About Oscar Health

Oscar Health, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker OSCR, is a technology-driven health insurance company headquartered in New York, New York. Founded in 2012 by Mario Schlosser, Joshua Kushner and Kevin Nazemi, the company was built with the goal of simplifying healthcare coverage and enhancing member experience. Oscar leverages a proprietary digital platform to streamline plan enrollment, claims administration and member support, distinguishing itself in the individual, family and small group insurance markets.

The company’s primary products include on-exchange individual and family medical plans under the Affordable Care Act, off-exchange plans, as well as Medicare Advantage offerings.