What happened
Shares of Oscar Health (OSCR 1.09%) were up by 24% for the week by Friday at noon, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The tech-focused health insurer closed last week at $7.37, then rose to as high as $9.27 on Thursday. The company offers medical insurance and Medicare Advantage plans for individuals, families and small groups.
So what
Oscar Health got a push as institutional buyers scooped up the stock, which is up 268% so far this year. Some of the key buyers included The Vanguard Group and Millennium Management LLC.
Bank of America Securities upgraded its position on Oscar to hold with a price target of $8.75, and Wells Fargo upgraded its target price to $8.50. Of the four analysts supplying 12-month price targets on the stock, the average was $7.04, with the high being $8.75 and the low being $3.90. Oscar blew past all of those estimates, however.
Now what
The stock has been rising steadily since it reported first-quarter earnings on May 9, when it said it had had quarterly revenue of $1.47 million, up 51% year over year. While it lost $39.7 million, that was a big improvement from the $77.3 million in net losses in the same period last year. The company also said its total direct and assumed policy premiums were $1.7 billion in the quarter, up 2% year over year. The increased revenue was due to increased policies and rate increases.
