Renaissance Technologies LLC Trims Holdings in MediaAlpha, Inc. $MAX

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its position in shares of MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) by 31.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 719,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 326,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 1.15% of MediaAlpha worth $6,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the 1st quarter valued at $85,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,061,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,876,000 after buying an additional 206,077 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 43,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 4,169 shares in the last quarter. Triad Investment Management increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Triad Investment Management now owns 333,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,105,000 after buying an additional 58,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in MediaAlpha by 94.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 620,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,773,000 after acquiring an additional 300,871 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MediaAlpha

In other news, Director Eugene Nonko sold 25,352 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total transaction of $351,378.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,137,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,763,033.44. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, CRO Keith Cramer sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.47, for a total transaction of $123,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 280,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,656,600.16. This trade represents a 4.43% 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. Insiders sold 432,820 shares of company stock worth $5,296,026 in the last quarter. 14.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on MediaAlpha from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Texas Capital raised MediaAlpha to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.29.

MediaAlpha Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of MAX stock opened at $12.36 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.20. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.09 and a 52 week high of $14.70. The stock has a market cap of $770.83 million, a P/E ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 1.11.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $316.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.87 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 301.42% and a net margin of 7.94%. On average, analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MediaAlpha 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.