Nuveen LLC Acquires New Stake in MediaAlpha, Inc. $MAX

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 505,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,675,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.75% of MediaAlpha as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 241,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 8,775.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 38,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 107.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 3,021 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MediaAlpha Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MediaAlpha stock opened at $10.21 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.98. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.33 and a 1-year high of $20.91. The company has a market cap of $693.33 million, a P/E ratio of -85.03 and a beta of 1.19.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 62.53% and a negative net margin of 0.61%.The firm had revenue of $251.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MAX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on MediaAlpha from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MediaAlpha from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MediaAlpha from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, MediaAlpha has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $17.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Keith Cramer sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.73, for a total value of $194,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 167,200 shares in the company, valued at $1,626,856. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kathy P. Vrabeck bought 31,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.60 per share, with a total value of $297,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 129,657 shares in the company, valued at $1,244,707.20. This trade represents a 31.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,669 shares of company stock valued at $297,873. 11.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.