HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on HSTM shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of HealthStream in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of HealthStream from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Tuesday.

HealthStream Trading Up 1.1%

HealthStream stock opened at $23.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $683.30 million, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.43. HealthStream has a twelve month low of $22.71 and a twelve month high of $34.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.29.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. HealthStream had a return on equity of 5.82% and a net margin of 6.93%.The company had revenue of $76.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.52 million. Sell-side analysts predict that HealthStream will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

HealthStream Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $0.031 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. HealthStream’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.65%.

HealthStream declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 11th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HealthStream

In related news, Director Tate Deborah Taylor sold 1,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.46, for a total transaction of $40,226.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,813.42. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Jeff Cunningham sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total transaction of $50,589.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 31,489 shares in the company, valued at $758,570.01. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,680 shares of company stock valued at $139,336. Corporate insiders own 20.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HealthStream

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HealthStream in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in HealthStream by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,407 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in HealthStream by 131.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in HealthStream during the second quarter worth $106,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 149.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.58% of the company’s stock.

HealthStream Company Profile

HealthStream, Inc is a Nashville, Tennessee–based provider of workforce development and learning management solutions for healthcare organizations. Since its founding in 1990, the company has focused on helping hospitals, clinics and other care providers streamline staff training, ensure regulatory compliance and monitor employee performance. HealthStream’s platform integrates online courses, skill competency assessments and credential management tools to support workforce readiness across the healthcare continuum.

The company’s core offerings include a learning management system (LMS) designed specifically for clinical and nonclinical personnel, a competency management suite that tracks skill acquisition and validation, and a content library featuring evidence-based clinical and compliance training modules.