HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) Short Interest Up 9.6% in December

HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 834,800 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the November 30th total of 761,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 138,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HSTM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of HealthStream from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of HealthStream to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on HealthStream from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HealthStream has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

HealthStream Stock Performance

Shares of HSTM opened at $31.80 on Thursday. HealthStream has a fifty-two week low of $23.92 and a fifty-two week high of $33.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.64. The stock has a market cap of $967.36 million, a PE ratio of 48.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.38.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The technology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $73.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.53 million. HealthStream had a return on equity of 5.67% and a net margin of 6.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that HealthStream will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.028 dividend. This represents a $0.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. HealthStream’s payout ratio is 16.92%.

Institutional Trading of HealthStream

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in HealthStream by 141.2% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 400,033 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,537,000 after buying an additional 234,148 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in HealthStream in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,635,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in HealthStream by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 201,601 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,814,000 after acquiring an additional 54,775 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in HealthStream by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 530,178 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,792,000 after purchasing an additional 35,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 145.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,838 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 34,821 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.