MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Trading 10.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) shot up 10.3% during trading on Wednesday after Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from a sell (d) rating to a hold (c-) rating. The company traded as high as $10.01 and last traded at $9.8950. 1,301,500 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 51% from the average session volume of 864,443 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.97.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MediaAlpha from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of MediaAlpha in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.58.

Insider Activity at MediaAlpha

In related news, CTO Kuanling Amy Yeh sold 12,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.31, for a total transaction of $87,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 381,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,789,949.22. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Eugene Nonko sold 10,599 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $105,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 946,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,465,430. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 516,745 shares of company stock valued at $5,975,452 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in MediaAlpha by 680.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,429,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,268,000 after buying an additional 1,246,493 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 1,261.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 710,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,089,000 after acquiring an additional 658,625 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 95.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,058,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,045,000 after purchasing an additional 516,195 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in MediaAlpha during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,268,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in MediaAlpha by 831.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 353,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 315,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.39. The company has a market capitalization of $642.10 million, a PE ratio of 25.53 and a beta of 1.29.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $291.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About MediaAlpha

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.