MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Shares Down 5.1% – Time to Sell?

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX)’s stock price fell 5.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $9.26 and last traded at $9.0980. 55,940 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 722,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MAX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Texas Capital raised shares of MediaAlpha to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research lowered shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.58.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.21. The company has a market cap of $590.33 million, a PE ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 1.16.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 147.82% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company had revenue of $310.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eugene Nonko sold 49,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $500,433.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,344,153.96. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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, insider Steven Yi sold 33,663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $336,293.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,924,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,220,690.06. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 483,142 shares of company stock worth $4,744,565. 14.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in MediaAlpha by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in MediaAlpha by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in MediaAlpha by 5,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is currently 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.