MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Director Sells 6,700 Shares

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Director Eugene Nonko sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.66, for a total transaction of $78,122.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,542,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,988,115.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Eugene Nonko also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 7th, Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.67, for a total value of $63,018.00.
• On Monday, January 5th, Eugene Nonko sold 6,700 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.98, for a total value of $80,266.00.
• On Monday, January 5th, Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.99, for a total value of $64,746.00.
• On Wednesday, December 31st, Eugene Nonko sold 6,700 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.93, for a total value of $86,631.00.
• On Wednesday, December 31st, Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.93, for a total value of $69,822.00.
• On Monday, December 29th, Eugene Nonko sold 6,700 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.65, for a total transaction of $84,755.00.
• On Monday, December 29th, Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.65, for a total transaction of $68,310.00.
• On Wednesday, December 24th, Eugene Nonko sold 6,700 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.67, for a total transaction of $84,889.00.
• On Wednesday, December 24th, Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.67, for a total transaction of $68,418.00.
• On Monday, December 22nd, Eugene Nonko sold 6,700 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.91, for a total transaction of $86,497.00.

MediaAlpha Stock Down 1.8%

MAX traded down $0.22 on Wednesday, reaching $11.63. The company had a trading volume of 449,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,213. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.33 and a 1 year high of $13.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $758.12 million, a PE ratio of -387.64 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.61.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $306.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.30 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 71.02% and a negative net margin of 0.10%.The business’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting MediaAlpha

Here are the key news stories impacting MediaAlpha this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSN featured MediaAlpha in a roundup on “spotting winners” in advertising/marketing services for Q3 — positive visibility that could support investor interest and organic demand for the shares. MSN article
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the sales, insiders still hold large positions (millions of shares). The disclosed transactions reduce individual ownership by small percentages (reported ~0.28%–0.54%), so these trades may reflect portfolio/liquidity moves more than a full loss of confidence. Representative SEC filing: Steven Yi Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider/director sales were disclosed on Jan. 5 and Jan. 7 (insider Steven Yi sold a total ~16,000 shares across two trades; director Eugene Nonko sold multiple blocks totaling over 20,000 shares across filings) at average prices roughly $11.66–$11.99. Aggregate insider selling (tens of thousands of shares) can create short-term selling pressure and is the likely driver of the stock trading lower intraday. Representative SEC filings: Steven Yi link and Eugene Nonko link

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MediaAlpha by 18.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 557,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,154,000 after purchasing an additional 85,581 shares in the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new position in MediaAlpha during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $952,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in MediaAlpha during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $895,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MediaAlpha during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $111,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 532,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,823,000 after buying an additional 211,135 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MAX. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of MediaAlpha in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MediaAlpha in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MediaAlpha currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.25.

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.