MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) CRO Sells $96,800.00 in Stock

Key Points

• CRO Keith Cramer sold 10,000 shares on April 15 at an average price of $9.68 for $96,800 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding, reducing his direct stake to 296,754 shares (a 3.26% decrease).
• MediaAlpha reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, beating estimates by $0.25, while revenue of $291.16 million missed expectations and was down 3.2% year-over-year.
• Shares traded up 2.9% to $9.69 on the day amid analyst price-target cuts, with the consensus rating at "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $12.70.

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) CRO Keith Cramer sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.68, for a total transaction of $96,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 296,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,872,578.72. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.

Keith Cramer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 16th, Keith Cramer sold 10,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.89, for a total transaction of $98,900.00.
• On Tuesday, February 17th, Keith Cramer sold 10,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $71,600.00.
• On Thursday, January 15th, Keith Cramer sold 10,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.37, for a total transaction of $113,700.00.

MediaAlpha Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:MAX traded up $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $9.69. 417,701 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 792,883. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.09 and a 1-year high of $13.92. The firm has a market cap of $625.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.15 and a 200-day moving average of $10.96.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $291.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $296.42 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 2.30% and a negative return on equity of 132.73%. The firm's revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.08 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MAX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of MediaAlpha from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MAX. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 680.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,429,556 shares of the company's stock worth $16,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,493 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 1,261.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 710,819 shares of the company's stock worth $8,089,000 after purchasing an additional 658,625 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,058,441 shares of the company's stock worth $12,045,000 after purchasing an additional 516,195 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,268,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 831.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 353,930 shares of the company's stock worth $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 315,943 shares during the last quarter. 64.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.