MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MAX. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Capital One Financial set a $11.00 price objective on MediaAlpha in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Texas Capital upgraded MediaAlpha to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.64.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

Shares of MAX traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.36. The company had a trading volume of 489,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,426. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $833.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.08. MediaAlpha has a 52-week low of $7.09 and a 52-week high of $14.39.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $310.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.91 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 147.82% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Yi sold 96,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.90, for a total transaction of $1,238,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,759,690 shares in the company, valued at $35,600,001. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 49,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $500,433.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,344,153.96. This trade represents a 3.61% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 743,424 shares of company stock worth $8,179,296. 14.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAX. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha in the second quarter worth $168,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 75.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 542,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,938,000 after buying an additional 233,948 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 29.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 8,229 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 34.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 55,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 14,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of MediaAlpha during the second quarter worth $153,000. 64.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

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.