MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.90.

MAX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research lowered MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MediaAlpha from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd.

MediaAlpha Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of MAX stock opened at $9.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $565.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.13 and its 200 day moving average is $10.29. MediaAlpha has a 52-week low of $7.09 and a 52-week high of $13.92.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $310.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.91 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 3.37% and a negative return on equity of 147.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MediaAlpha news, insider Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total value of $36,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,879,690 shares in the company, valued at $26,320,366.60. This trade represents a 0.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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, Director Eugene Nonko sold 25,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total transaction of $256,316.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 959,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,607,347.75. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 473,697 shares of company stock valued at $4,648,324 over the last quarter. Insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in MediaAlpha by 680.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,429,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,493 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,367,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,714,000 after buying an additional 309,455 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,301,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,854,000 after buying an additional 10,604 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 24.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,061,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,876,000 after buying an additional 206,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,045,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,538,000 after buying an additional 100,300 shares during the last quarter. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc is a technology company that operates a real-time digital marketplace for the distribution of insurance and adjacent services. The company’s platform connects buyers—consumers seeking insurance policies—to sellers, including insurance carriers and distribution partners, through programmatic bidding and data-driven pricing. By leveraging transaction-level data and proprietary auction mechanics, MediaAlpha enables carriers to acquire customers more efficiently and at scale.

The firm offers a suite of products that help clients optimize marketing spend and improve conversion rates.