Insider Selling: MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Insider Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares on May 4 at $9.05 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding from vested awards, and still directly owns about 2.89 million shares (a 0.14% reduction).
• Yi has executed numerous additional sales across April–May at roughly $9–$10 per share, representing cumulative dispositions totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• MediaAlpha recently reported a Q EPS miss ($0.21 vs. $0.25 est.) but beat on revenue at $310M (+17.3% YoY); the stock traded down ~4.9% to $8.99, with analysts holding a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a $12.90 price target.

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) insider Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.05, for a total transaction of $36,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,887,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,133,594.50. The trade was a 0.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Steven Yi also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 6th, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total transaction of $36,560.00.
• On Wednesday, April 29th, Steven Yi sold 26,739 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $267,390.00.
• On Tuesday, April 28th, Steven Yi sold 6,565 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $65,650.00.
• On Monday, April 27th, Steven Yi sold 33,663 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $336,293.37.
• On Wednesday, April 22nd, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.88, for a total value of $39,520.00.
• On Tuesday, April 21st, Steven Yi sold 16,047 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.08, for a total value of $161,753.76.
• On Monday, April 20th, Steven Yi sold 28,543 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total value of $287,142.58.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.68, for a total value of $38,720.00.
• On Monday, April 13th, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.07, for a total value of $36,280.00.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.78, for a total value of $39,120.00.

MediaAlpha Trading Down 4.9%

MAX traded down $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $8.99. 622,696 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 779,699. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.09 and a fifty-two week high of $13.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.84. The stock has a market cap of $579.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.16.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $310.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.91 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 3.37% and a negative return on equity of 147.82%. MediaAlpha's quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 2.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 28.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 43.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,087 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in MediaAlpha by 13.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 5,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MAX shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of MediaAlpha from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings raised MediaAlpha from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on MediaAlpha from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Four 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, MediaAlpha currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.90.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

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.

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