Trexquant Investment LP Reduces Position in MediaAlpha, Inc. $MAX

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has reduced its stake in MediaAlpha, Inc. by 20.3% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 0.17% of the company valued at around $1,028,000.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their positions in MediaAlpha, with GAMMA Investing LLC reporting an 8,775.8% boost, highlighting a trend of increasing interest in the stock.
• Brokerages have mixed views on MediaAlpha, with Wall Street Zen lowering its rating from "buy" to "hold", while others have set a consensus price target of $18.25.

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its stake in shares of MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,223 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,355 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.17% of MediaAlpha worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MAX. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in MediaAlpha by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 14,409 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 4,264 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 282,172 shares of the company's stock worth $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 26,955 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 27,300 shares of the company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 136,509 shares of the company's stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 11,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MAX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $18.25.

MediaAlpha Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of MediaAlpha stock traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $12.99. The stock had a trading volume of 932,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,489. The firm has a market capitalization of $882.86 million, a PE ratio of -108.27 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50 day moving average is $10.57 and its 200 day moving average is $9.91. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.33 and a twelve month high of $20.91.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $251.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $248.80 million. MediaAlpha had a negative net margin of 0.61% and a negative return on equity of 62.53%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

MediaAlpha Profile

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.