MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock Price Down 6% – Here’s Why

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) fell 6% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $12.08 and last traded at $12.1780. 85,360 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 371,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAX has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $13.50 target price on MediaAlpha in a report on Friday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of MediaAlpha in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.25.

MediaAlpha Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $789.86 million, a P/E ratio of -403.87 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.57.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. MediaAlpha had a negative net margin of 0.10% and a negative return on equity of 71.02%. The business had revenue of $306.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Yi sold 8,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.94, for a total transaction of $103,520.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,831,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,637,410.20. The trade was a 0.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugene Nonko sold 5,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.93, for a total value of $69,822.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,014,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,116,812.64. This trade represents a 0.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 311,400 shares of company stock worth $3,967,980. 13.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 94.8% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 29,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 14,217 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 15.1% during the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 73,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 9,694 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the first quarter valued at $1,199,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 557,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,154,000 after purchasing an additional 85,581 shares during the period. Finally, Clearline Capital LP boosted its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 123.4% in the 1st quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 2,654,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466,760 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MediaAlpha

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.