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

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

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on MAX. Capital One Financial set a $11.00 price target on MediaAlpha in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on MediaAlpha from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on MediaAlpha from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised MediaAlpha from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Texas Capital raised shares of MediaAlpha to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.29.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

MediaAlpha stock opened at $12.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.55 and a 200-day moving average of $10.19. MediaAlpha has a one year low of $7.09 and a one year high of $14.70. The company has a market cap of $769.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.11.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $316.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.87 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 301.42% and a net margin of 7.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MediaAlpha will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MediaAlpha news, Director Eugene Nonko sold 25,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $351,378.72. Following the sale, the director owned 1,137,304 shares in the company, valued at $15,763,033.44. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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, insider Steven Yi sold 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.90, for a total value of $1,238,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,759,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,600,001. The trade was a 3.36% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 436,820 shares of company stock worth $5,332,586. Company insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAX. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 5,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in MediaAlpha by 9,917.9% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in MediaAlpha by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new position in MediaAlpha during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 28.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

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.