Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,830 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,157 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.43% of HealthStream worth $4,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSTM. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in HealthStream by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,672 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in HealthStream by 5.0% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,174 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 15,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 99.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HealthStream Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of HSTM stock opened at $27.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.66. HealthStream, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.72 and a twelve month high of $34.24. The stock has a market cap of $825.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.42.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $73.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.93 million. HealthStream had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 5.36%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HealthStream, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

HealthStream announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.031 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. HealthStream’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of HealthStream from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

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.