MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Short Interest Update

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) saw a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a decline of 26.3% from the February 13th total of 1,860,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 541,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,623,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,908,000 after purchasing an additional 169,654 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 77.7% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,628,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,389,000 after acquiring an additional 712,410 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,241,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,482,000 after acquiring an additional 664,691 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 91.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 781,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,821,000 after acquiring an additional 372,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 698,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,890,000 after acquiring an additional 8,129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

MediaAlpha Stock Up 4.1 %

NYSE:MAX traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.29. 559,758 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 614,514. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.60. MediaAlpha has a twelve month low of $8.21 and a twelve month high of $25.78. The company has a market capitalization of $622.98 million, a P/E ratio of 54.67 and a beta of 1.15.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.16). MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 1.41%. The firm had revenue of $300.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.38 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that MediaAlpha will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MediaAlpha from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on MediaAlpha from $23.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on MediaAlpha from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.50.

About MediaAlpha

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.