MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Stock: Insider Steven Yi Sells 138,806 Shares

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) insider Steven Yi sold 138,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.78, for a total value of $2,051,552.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,174,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,145,036.78. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.

Steven Yi also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, November 4th, Steven Yi sold 151,129 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total value of $2,342,499.50.
• On Tuesday, November 3rd, Steven Yi sold 130,065 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.05, for a total value of $1,957,478.25.
• On Friday, October 9th, Steven Yi sold 2,033 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.01, for a total value of $22,383.33.
• On Thursday, October 8th, Steven Yi sold 24,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $240,960.00.
• On Tuesday, September 1st, Steven Yi sold 48,000 shares of MediaAlpha stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.38, for a total transaction of $594,240.00.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

NYSE:MAX opened at $14.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.49, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $883.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.72. MediaAlpha, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.09 and a 1-year high of $15.99.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.18. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 8.35% and a negative return on equity of 994.23%. The firm had revenue of $375.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.93 million. Equities research analysts forecast that MediaAlpha, Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in MediaAlpha by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 46,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in MediaAlpha by 21.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in MediaAlpha during the third quarter valued at $248,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in MediaAlpha during the third quarter valued at $109,000. Finally, Triad Investment Management lifted its holdings in MediaAlpha by 10.4% during the second quarter. Triad Investment Management now owns 368,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,635,000 after purchasing an additional 34,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MAX. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $10.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MediaAlpha from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised MediaAlpha from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MediaAlpha currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.71.

Key Stories Impacting MediaAlpha

Here are the key news stories impacting MediaAlpha this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MediaAlpha’s third-quarter results beat estimates, and its earnings-call recap points to broadening insurance-advertising demand, including home insurance growth, higher carrier spending, and gains supported by AI tools. These trends could support continued marketplace growth. Read the article
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling was reported by Steven Yi, director Eugene Nonko, and CTO Kuanling Yeh. Yi and Nonko’s filings describe sales under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards; that context may make those transactions less indicative of a change in their views of the company. Read the article
• Negative Sentiment: The scale and frequency of reported sales—including large transactions by Yi and Nonko over several days—could nevertheless concern investors and add near-term selling pressure. Read the article

MediaAlpha Company Profile

MediaAlpha, Inc operates a technology platform that helps insurance carriers and distributors acquire customers through digital channels. Its marketplace connects consumers who are shopping for insurance with providers seeking qualified prospects, using data, analytics and automated systems to facilitate the matching process.

The company’s platform supports customer acquisition across insurance categories, including property and casualty products such as auto and home insurance, as well as health, life and Medicare-related coverage.