MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock Price Up 6% – Time to Buy?

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX)’s stock price traded up 6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $9.20 and last traded at $9.17. 105,010 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 719,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research cut MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MediaAlpha currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.90.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $573.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.30.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Yi sold 33,663 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $336,293.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,924,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,220,690.06. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 49,844 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $500,433.76. Following the sale, the director owned 1,329,099 shares in the company, valued at $13,344,153.96. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 470,697 shares of company stock worth $4,621,654. Corporate insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MAX. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 2.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 5,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

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.