MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised MediaAlpha from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MediaAlpha presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.58.

MediaAlpha Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of MediaAlpha stock opened at $9.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $619.10 million, a PE ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 1.30. MediaAlpha has a twelve month low of $7.09 and a twelve month high of $13.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.29.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $291.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.42 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 2.30% and a negative return on equity of 132.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MediaAlpha will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MediaAlpha

In other news, insider Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total transaction of $37,680.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,043,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,667,386.74. This represents a 0.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total value of $54,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 892,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,968,037.10. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 546,489 shares of company stock valued at $5,693,335 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MAX. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in MediaAlpha by 680.9% in 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 29.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP increased its stake 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 worth $16,854,000 after buying an additional 10,604 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,045,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,538,000 after buying an additional 100,300 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MediaAlpha by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 804,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,413,000 after acquiring an additional 33,416 shares in the last quarter. 64.39% of the stock is 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.