Steven Yi Sells 96,000 Shares of MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) insider Steven Yi sold 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 2,759,690 shares in the company, valued at $35,600,001. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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.

Steven Yi also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 16th, Steven Yi sold 24,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total transaction of $240,240.00.
• On Wednesday, May 6th, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total transaction of $36,560.00.
• On Monday, May 4th, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.05, for a total transaction of $36,200.00.
• On Wednesday, April 29th, Steven Yi sold 26,739 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $267,390.00.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Steven Yi sold 6,565 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $65,650.00.
• On Monday, April 27th, Steven Yi sold 33,663 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $336,293.37.
• On Wednesday, April 22nd, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.88, for a total transaction of $39,520.00.
• On Tuesday, April 21st, Steven Yi sold 16,047 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.08, for a total value of $161,753.76.
• On Monday, April 20th, Steven Yi sold 28,543 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total value of $287,142.58.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.68, for a total value of $38,720.00.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

MAX stock opened at $13.53 on Friday. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.09 and a 1-year high of $13.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $843.28 million, a P/E ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.08.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). MediaAlpha had a net margin of 3.37% and a negative return on equity of 147.82%. The business had revenue of $310.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.91 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 680.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,429,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,493 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,367,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,714,000 after buying an additional 309,455 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,301,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,854,000 after buying an additional 10,604 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in MediaAlpha by 24.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,061,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,876,000 after buying an additional 206,077 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in MediaAlpha by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,045,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,538,000 after buying an additional 100,300 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Capital One Financial set a $11.00 target price on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MediaAlpha has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.36.

Key MediaAlpha News

Here are the key news stories impacting MediaAlpha this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MediaAlpha has recently attracted some analyst support, including a Texas Capital upgrade to strong-buy, and the stock has been trading near its 52-week high, which can help reinforce bullish momentum.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple insiders sold shares, but the company said the sales were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and largely to cover tax withholding from vesting equity awards, which often makes them less concerning than discretionary selling.
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief insider Steven Yi sold 96,000 shares at $12.90, while Director Eugene Nonko also sold several smaller blocks at prices between $11.81 and $12.80; these trades reduce ownership modestly but do not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: An investigation by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP into MediaAlpha’s board and senior management over alleged deceptive advertising and a $45 million FTC settlement adds legal and reputational risk, which may weigh on sentiment. MAX Investigation Notification: The MediaAlpha Board is being Investigated in Connection with Deceptive Advertising Allegations

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.