HealthStream’s (HSTM) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a $28.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of HealthStream in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of HealthStream from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

HealthStream Stock Performance

HealthStream stock opened at $23.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.70. The company has a market cap of $706.74 million, a PE ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.45. HealthStream has a fifty-two week low of $23.77 and a fifty-two week high of $34.24.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. HealthStream had a return on equity of 5.82% and a net margin of 6.93%.The firm had revenue of $76.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.52 million. As a group, analysts predict that HealthStream will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 11th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

HealthStream Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at HealthStream

In related news, EVP Kevin P. O’hara sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.26, for a total value of $48,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,208.98. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Jeff Cunningham sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $758,570.01. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 5,680 shares of company stock worth $139,336 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 20.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HealthStream

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HealthStream in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in HealthStream by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,407 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in HealthStream by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,625 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in HealthStream in the 2nd quarter worth about $106,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in HealthStream during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $142,000. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.