MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Short Interest Down 22.6% in January

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,680,000 shares, a drop of 22.6% from the December 31st total of 2,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 611,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAX. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 157.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in MediaAlpha in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of MediaAlpha during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

MediaAlpha Price Performance

NYSE MAX traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $11.39. The company had a trading volume of 283,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,633. The firm has a market cap of $758.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.98 and a beta of 1.12. MediaAlpha has a fifty-two week low of $10.21 and a fifty-two week high of $25.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.68.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $259.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.96 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 1.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that MediaAlpha will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAX has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MediaAlpha from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MediaAlpha from $25.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.57.

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.