MediaAlpha Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MAX)

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 2,291 put options on the company. This is an increase of 630% compared to the typical daily volume of 314 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAX has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of MediaAlpha in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.71.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

NYSE MAX opened at $14.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $940.85 million, a PE ratio of -21.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.59 and a 200 day moving average of $16.56. MediaAlpha has a 1 year low of $7.62 and a 1 year high of $25.78.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $126.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.17 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that MediaAlpha will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MediaAlpha

In other news, major shareholder Insignia Capital Partners Gp, sold 2,589,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $49,206,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Insignia Capital Partners Gp, sold 2,589,800 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $49,206,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Mountains Insurance Grou White sold 5,000,200 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $95,003,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,856,614 shares in the company, valued at $339,275,666. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 9.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 18,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 1,567 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 0.4% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 375,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,649,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 4.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 45,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

MediaAlpha, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.