MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $10.00 to $12.00. The stock had previously closed at $8.40, but opened at $9.91. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MediaAlpha shares last traded at $10.02, with a volume of 196,307 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms have also commented on MAX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MediaAlpha from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of MediaAlpha in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on MediaAlpha from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on MediaAlpha from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MediaAlpha currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 423.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 53,809 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 128,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after acquiring an additional 64,331 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in MediaAlpha by 655.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 80,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 69,477 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 73.3% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 21,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 8,938 shares during the period. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in MediaAlpha during the fourth quarter valued at $311,000. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.36. The company has a market capitalization of $672.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.02 and a beta of 1.11.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 1.41%. The business had revenue of $264.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. MediaAlpha’s revenue was up 108.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.