MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MAX. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MediaAlpha has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.71.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAX opened at $14.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $863.64 million, a PE ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.49, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.75. MediaAlpha has a 12 month low of $7.09 and a 12 month high of $15.99.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $375.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.93 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 994.23% and a net margin of 8.35%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MediaAlpha will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other MediaAlpha news, CTO Kuanling Yeh sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.91, for a total value of $372,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 493,091 shares in the company, valued at $7,351,986.81. The trade was a 4.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Mountains Insurance Grou White sold 5,500,391 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.90, for a total value of $76,455,434.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,356,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,751,499.70. The trade was a 30.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,752,085 shares of company stock worth $94,270,437. Company insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MediaAlpha

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MAX. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 4.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 46,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 9,917.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 23.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its stake in MediaAlpha by 10.7% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 43,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 4,169 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

MediaAlpha, Inc operates a technology platform that helps insurance carriers and distributors acquire customers through digital channels. Its marketplace connects consumers who are shopping for insurance with providers seeking qualified prospects, using data, analytics and automated systems to facilitate the matching process.

The company’s platform supports customer acquisition across insurance categories, including property and casualty products such as auto and home insurance, as well as health, life and Medicare-related coverage.