HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of HealthStream in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HealthStream currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $32.00.

HealthStream Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HSTM opened at $24.89 on Thursday. HealthStream has a 12-month low of $20.47 and a 12-month high of $29.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.48 and a 200-day moving average of $25.66. The stock has a market cap of $754.17 million, a PE ratio of 49.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.36.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 19th. The technology company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $70.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.83 million. HealthStream had a return on equity of 4.71% and a net margin of 5.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that HealthStream will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

HealthStream Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.028 dividend. This is a positive change from HealthStream’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. HealthStream’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.00%.

Insider Transactions at HealthStream

In related news, EVP Michael Sousa sold 15,000 shares of HealthStream stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $408,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,806.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Trisha L. Coady sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $184,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $387,013.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Sousa sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $408,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,806.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HealthStream

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of HealthStream by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 568.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in HealthStream during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in HealthStream in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in HealthStream in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About HealthStream

HealthStream, Inc provides Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based applications for healthcare organizations in the United States. The company's solutions help healthcare organizations in meeting their ongoing clinical development, talent management, training, education, assessment, competency management, safety and compliance, and scheduling, as well as provider credentialing, privileging, and enrollment needs.