MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at 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 released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Capital One Financial set a $11.00 price target on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Texas Capital upgraded shares of MediaAlpha to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.29.

MediaAlpha Trading Down 8.9%

Shares of MAX opened at $12.34 on Friday. MediaAlpha has a 1 year low of $7.09 and a 1 year high of $14.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.19. The stock has a market cap of $769.46 million, a PE ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.08.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $316.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.87 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 301.42% and a net margin of 7.94%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MediaAlpha will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MediaAlpha news, CRO Keith Cramer sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.47, for a total transaction of $123,110.00. Following the sale, the executive owned 280,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,656,600.16. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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, Director Eugene Nonko sold 25,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total transaction of $351,378.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,137,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,763,033.44. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 440,820 shares of company stock worth $5,368,786 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MAX. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in MediaAlpha by 5,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in MediaAlpha by 9,917.9% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,777 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 28.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

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.