JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Position in MediaAlpha, Inc. $MAX

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,058,441 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 516,195 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.56% of MediaAlpha worth $12,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MAX. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in MediaAlpha by 28.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha in the second quarter worth $62,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MediaAlpha in the 2nd quarter valued at $110,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MediaAlpha in the 2nd quarter valued at $117,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MediaAlpha

In other news, insider Steven Yi sold 39,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $392,127.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,649,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,469,743.76. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Eugene Nonko sold 59,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total transaction of $592,612.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,395,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,967,153.20. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 643,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,128,350 in the last 90 days. 13.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MediaAlpha Stock Up 0.6%

MAX stock opened at $10.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.39. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.09 and a 52-week high of $13.92. The company has a market capitalization of $665.00 million, a PE ratio of 26.44 and a beta of 1.30.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $291.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.42 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 132.73% and a net margin of 2.30%.The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MAX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MediaAlpha from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research raised MediaAlpha from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MediaAlpha from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MediaAlpha currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.58.

MediaAlpha News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting MediaAlpha this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat: MediaAlpha reported EPS of $0.50 vs. $0.25 expected, a material beat that supports near-term earnings momentum and likely underpins buying interest. MarketBeat: MAX earnings summary
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional demand: several funds added or increased positions in Q4 (e.g., Pacer, Invesco, Mercer and a State of Tennessee stake), signaling confidence from larger investors and providing structural support to the stock. MarketBeat: Institutional ownership changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed fundamentals: revenue of $291.2M slightly missed consensus (~$296.4M) and was down ~3.2% year-over-year; net margins remain thin and ROE is negative, so the EPS beat may not reflect durable top-line recovery. MarketBeat: Q4 results
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Steven Yi: multiple recent sales including 39,252 shares (avg ~$9.99) and an 8,000-share sale (~$10.03) reported in SEC filings; repeated insider sales can weigh on sentiment as near-term liquidity-taking. SEC Form 4 – Steven Yi sales
• Negative Sentiment: Director selling — Eugene Nonko: multiple large blocks sold (including 59,202 and 48,801 shares around ~$10.01), trimming several-percent stakes; director-level sales of this size are a clear headwind to sentiment. SEC Form 4 – Eugene Nonko sales
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts: several firms trimmed price targets in late February (Goldman, RBC, JPMorgan adjustments), which can cap upside until revenue stabilizes and margins improve. MarketBeat: Analyst notes

MediaAlpha 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.