MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Upgraded 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 Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MAX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on MediaAlpha from $10.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.71.

MediaAlpha Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MAX stock opened at $14.35 on Friday. MediaAlpha has a twelve month low of $7.09 and a twelve month high of $15.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.77. The company has a market capitalization of $849.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.49.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $375.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $347.93 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 8.35% and a negative return on equity of 994.23%. Research analysts forecast that MediaAlpha will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MediaAlpha

In related news, Director Eugene Nonko sold 160,185 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total value of $2,409,182.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 551,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,297,673.28. This trade represents a 22.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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. Also, CTO Kuanling Yeh sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.47, for a total value of $361,750.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 518,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,776.77. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,740,598 shares of company stock valued at $94,123,272. Corporate insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MAX. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in MediaAlpha by 24.1% in 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. Jacobs Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MediaAlpha by 31.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC now owns 924,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,597,000 after buying an additional 219,144 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 94.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 620,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,773,000 after acquiring an additional 300,871 shares in the last quarter. Triad Investment Management increased its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 10.4% in the second quarter. Triad Investment Management now owns 368,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,635,000 after acquiring an additional 34,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 380.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 279,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 221,540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha operates a technology platform that connects consumers shopping for insurance with insurance carriers and distributors. Its marketplace uses consumer-intent data and real-time bidding to help match shoppers with relevant insurance products and providers. The company focuses on insurance categories including auto, home, health and life. Its platform serves carriers, agents, brokers and other insurance distributors, with its business primarily centered on the U.S. market. MediaAlpha became an independent company in 2014 after operating within White Mountains Insurance Group.