MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded MediaAlpha from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.58.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MAX opened at $9.08 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.27. MediaAlpha has a fifty-two week low of $7.09 and a fifty-two week high of $13.92. The company has a market cap of $585.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29 and a beta of 1.30.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.MediaAlpha’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MediaAlpha will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MediaAlpha

In related news, CTO Kuanling Amy Yeh sold 3,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.34, for a total value of $31,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 393,979 shares in the company, valued at $4,073,742.86. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total transaction of $37,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,043,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,667,386.74. This trade represents a 0.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 546,489 shares of company stock valued at $5,693,335 over the last 90 days. 13.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAX. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MediaAlpha by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 764,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,375,000 after purchasing an additional 36,949 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $168,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 6.4% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 106.7% during the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 34,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 17,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 75.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 542,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,938,000 after buying an additional 233,948 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

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.