MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock Bumped Up to “Strong-Buy” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $10.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MediaAlpha currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.71.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

MAX opened at $14.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.49, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. MediaAlpha has a 1 year low of $7.09 and a 1 year high of $15.99. The firm has a market cap of $869.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 1.12.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $375.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.93 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 994.23% and a net margin of 8.35%. As a group, analysts predict that MediaAlpha will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eugene Nonko sold 160,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total transaction of $2,409,182.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 551,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,297,673.28. The trade was a 22.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, CTO Kuanling Yeh sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.47, for a total value of $361,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 518,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,776.77. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 6,752,085 shares of company stock valued at $94,270,437 over the last three months. 14.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 51.8% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 197,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 67,500 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in MediaAlpha by 4.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 46,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 21.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in MediaAlpha in the third quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in MediaAlpha in the third quarter worth about $109,000. 64.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

MediaAlpha, Inc operates a technology platform that helps insurance carriers and distributors acquire customers through digital channels. Its marketplace connects consumers who are shopping for insurance with providers seeking qualified prospects, using data, analytics and automated systems to facilitate the matching process.

The company’s platform supports customer acquisition across insurance categories, including property and casualty products such as auto and home insurance, as well as health, life and Medicare-related coverage.