HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) Hits New 12-Month Low After Insider Selling

HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $23.77 and last traded at $24.22, with a volume of 218549 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.93.

Specifically, CTO Jeff Cunningham sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $50,589.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 31,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $758,570.01. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin P. O’hara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.26, for a total value of $48,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $397,208.98. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HSTM shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HealthStream from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

HealthStream Trading Up 1.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $718.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.47 and its 200-day moving average is $26.83.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. HealthStream had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.82%. The firm had revenue of $76.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.52 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HealthStream, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.031 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. HealthStream’s payout ratio is currently 17.65%.

HealthStream announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 11th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of HealthStream

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HSTM. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in HealthStream in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of HealthStream by 241.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,407 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HealthStream by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,625 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in HealthStream during the second quarter worth about $106,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of HealthStream in the first quarter worth approximately $161,000. 69.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.