MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded MediaAlpha from “buy” to “strong-buy.” Analysts overall give the stock a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with an average price target of $13.29.
• MediaAlpha reported quarterly earnings of $0.65 per share, beating the $0.23 consensus estimate, while revenue of $316.88 million also exceeded expectations.
• MAX opened at $12.34, down 8.9%, with a market capitalization of approximately $769 million. Institutional investors own 64.39% of the stock, while insiders have sold shares worth about $5.37 million over the past 90 days.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MAX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered MediaAlpha from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Texas Capital upgraded MediaAlpha to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Capital One Financial set a $11.00 price objective on MediaAlpha in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MediaAlpha from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.29.

MediaAlpha Stock Down 8.9%

MAX stock opened at $12.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $769.46 million, a P/E ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.19. MediaAlpha has a 52 week low of $7.09 and a 52 week high of $14.70.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $316.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.87 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 7.94% and a negative return on equity of 301.42%. On average, analysts expect that MediaAlpha will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Keith Cramer sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.47, for a total value of $123,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 280,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,656,600.16. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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. Also, Director Eugene Nonko sold 25,352 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $351,378.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,137,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,763,033.44. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold 440,820 shares of company stock valued at $5,368,786 in the last ninety days. 14.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jacobs Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Asset Management LLC now owns 924,443 shares of the company's stock worth $8,597,000 after buying an additional 219,144 shares during the last quarter. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in MediaAlpha in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,039,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 288.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 137,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 102,210 shares during the last quarter. Triad Investment Management lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 21.2% in the first quarter. Triad Investment Management now owns 333,864 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,105,000 after acquiring an additional 58,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MediaAlpha in the first quarter worth approximately $95,000. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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