MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.14.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MAX. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of MediaAlpha in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

NYSE MAX traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.38. 1,298,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 425,148. MediaAlpha has a 52-week low of $8.55 and a 52-week high of $25.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 96.35 and a beta of 1.23.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $259.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.96 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 1.41%. Sell-side analysts forecast that MediaAlpha will post 0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MediaAlpha news, insider Eugene Nonko sold 72,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.67, for a total value of $1,488,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,550,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,058,963.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 15.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,119,189 shares of the company's stock worth $43,168,000 after buying an additional 276,641 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in MediaAlpha by 208.4% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,615 shares of the company's stock worth $18,920,000 after acquiring an additional 970,840 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MediaAlpha during the first quarter valued at approximately $22,181,000. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of MediaAlpha in the second quarter worth approximately $7,956,000. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 51,407.5% in the second quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 598,517 shares of the company's stock worth $7,882,000 after purchasing an additional 597,355 shares in the last quarter. 64.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

MediaAlpha, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.