HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 281,300 shares, an increase of 15.9% from the March 31st total of 242,800 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 110,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insider Activity at HealthStream

In other HealthStream news, EVP Michael Sousa sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $408,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,806.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Trisha L. Coady sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Sousa sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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. 20.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 568.2% in the third 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. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in HealthStream in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in HealthStream by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in HealthStream in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in HealthStream during the 1st quarter worth approximately $213,000. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HSTM. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of HealthStream in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HealthStream from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of HealthStream in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

HealthStream Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of HealthStream stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $25.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 106,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 106,616. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.95. HealthStream has a fifty-two week low of $20.47 and a fifty-two week high of $29.12. The firm has a market cap of $789.49 million, a PE ratio of 44.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.36.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.07. HealthStream had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The company had revenue of $72.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. HealthStream’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that HealthStream will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.028 per share. This represents a $0.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. HealthStream’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.97%.

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.