MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.6429.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MAX shares. Capital One Financial set a $11.00 price target on shares of MediaAlpha in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MAX opened at $13.13 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.14. The company has a market capitalization of $818.72 million, a PE ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 1.08. MediaAlpha has a 12-month low of $7.09 and a 12-month high of $14.70.

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

Insider Transactions at MediaAlpha

In other news, insider Steven Yi sold 26,467 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.07, for a total value of $372,390.69. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,715,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,213,683.83. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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, Director Eugene Nonko sold 3,282 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.78, for a total value of $45,225.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 907,100 shares in the company, valued at $12,499,838. This represents a 0.36% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 565,015 shares of company stock valued at $6,394,745. 14.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of MediaAlpha in the 2nd quarter valued at $168,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in MediaAlpha by 75.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 542,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,938,000 after purchasing an additional 233,948 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 29.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,229 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 55,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 14,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in MediaAlpha in the second quarter valued at about $153,000. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MediaAlpha

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.