MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Posted by George Bondi on May 21st, 2026

Zacks Research cut shares of MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX – Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MAX. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.90.

Read Our Latest Report on MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha Stock Up 1.5%

MAX opened at $8.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $521.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.16. MediaAlpha has a twelve month low of $7.09 and a twelve month high of $13.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.63.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $310.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.91 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 3.37% and a negative return on equity of 147.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MediaAlpha news, insider Steven Yi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total value of $36,560.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,879,690 shares in the company, valued at $26,320,366.60. This represents a 0.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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. Also, CRO Keith Cramer sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.05, for a total transaction of $104,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 293,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,362,900.40. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 682,897 shares of company stock worth $6,733,255. Company insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MAX. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in MediaAlpha by 5,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in MediaAlpha by 9,917.9% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in MediaAlpha by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in MediaAlpha in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in MediaAlpha by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. 64.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.