HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 107,347 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the previous session’s volume of 98,453 shares.The stock last traded at $24.39 and had previously closed at $23.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on HSTM. Barclays started 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of HealthStream from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

HealthStream Trading Up 4.0 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $758.18 million, a PE ratio of 47.98, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.36.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $70.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.83 million. HealthStream had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 4.71%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that HealthStream, Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.028 per share. This represents a $0.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from HealthStream’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. HealthStream’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.00%.

Insider Activity at HealthStream

In related news, SVP Trisha L. Coady sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $184,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,013.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael Sousa sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $408,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,806.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Trisha L. Coady sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $184,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,693 shares in the company, valued at $387,013.62. 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 hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSTM. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in HealthStream by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 59,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in HealthStream by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 22,973 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in HealthStream by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in HealthStream by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,768 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in HealthStream by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,467,146 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,226,000 after acquiring an additional 41,720 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HealthStream Company Profile

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.