MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock Price Up 10.3% on Analyst Upgrade

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) shot up 10.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from a sell (d) rating to a hold (c-) rating. The stock traded as high as $10.01 and last traded at $9.8950. 1,301,500 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 51% from the average session volume of 864,443 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.97.

Several other research firms have also commented on MAX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MediaAlpha from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised MediaAlpha from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MediaAlpha news, General Counsel Jeffrey B. Coyne sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.30, for a total value of $36,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 436,783 shares in the company, valued at $3,188,515.90. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Keith Cramer sold 10,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total value of $71,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive owned 182,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,222.64. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 516,745 shares of company stock worth $5,975,452. Company insiders own 13.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MediaAlpha

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in MediaAlpha by 680.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,429,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,268,000 after buying an additional 1,246,493 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 309,455 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,301,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,854,000 after acquiring an additional 10,604 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,045,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,538,000 after acquiring an additional 100,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MediaAlpha by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 804,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,413,000 after purchasing an additional 33,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $642.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.41 and its 200 day moving average is $11.39.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.25. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 132.73% and a net margin of 2.30%.The firm had revenue of $291.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. MediaAlpha’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.