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 report issued on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on MAX. Zacks Research downgraded MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $13.50 target price on shares of MediaAlpha in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MediaAlpha presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

MediaAlpha Stock Up 0.5%

MAX opened at $11.60 on Friday. MediaAlpha has a fifty-two week low of $7.33 and a fifty-two week high of $13.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.64. The firm has a market cap of $756.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -386.57 and a beta of 1.21.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $306.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.30 million. MediaAlpha had a negative net margin of 0.10% and a negative return on equity of 71.02%. MediaAlpha’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Yi sold 8,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.88, for a total transaction of $95,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,967,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,251,880.40. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Kuanling Amy Yeh sold 12,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.49, for a total value of $161,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 402,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,431,910.38. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 354,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,482,102 in the last 90 days. 11.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in MediaAlpha in the second quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of MediaAlpha in the second quarter valued at $155,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in MediaAlpha during the second quarter worth $895,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 37.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 6,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in MediaAlpha during the second quarter worth $219,000. 64.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.