MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

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

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on MAX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MediaAlpha from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.58.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

MediaAlpha stock opened at $9.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $619.10 million, a PE ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.29. MediaAlpha has a 1-year low of $7.09 and a 1-year high of $13.92.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MediaAlpha

In related news, CTO Kuanling Amy Yeh sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.34, for a total transaction of $31,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 393,979 shares in the company, valued at $4,073,742.86. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total transaction of $54,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 892,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,968,037.10. This represents 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 worth $5,693,335 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAX. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in MediaAlpha by 9,917.9% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 263,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 16,597 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 6,319 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 16,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,120 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the fourth quarter worth approximately $167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.