MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.90.

MAX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th.

MediaAlpha Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:MAX opened at $8.88 on Friday. MediaAlpha has a 1 year low of $7.09 and a 1 year high of $13.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $553.54 million, a PE ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.16.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its 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). MediaAlpha had a net margin of 3.37% and a negative return on equity of 147.82%. The firm had revenue of $310.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MediaAlpha news, CTO Kuanling Amy Yeh sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.05, for a total value of $96,600.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 572,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,612,529.25. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 25,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total transaction of $256,316.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 959,775 shares in the company, valued at $9,607,347.75. This represents a 2.60% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 641,052 shares of company stock worth $6,327,757. 14.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MAX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,058,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,045,000 after acquiring an additional 516,195 shares during the period. Triad Investment Management bought a new position in shares of MediaAlpha during the 4th quarter worth about $3,567,000. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MediaAlpha during the 4th quarter worth about $296,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,824 shares during the period. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MediaAlpha during the 3rd quarter worth about $281,000. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.