Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Makes New Investment in HealthStream, Inc. $HSTM

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 44,775 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.15% of HealthStream at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of HealthStream by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in HealthStream in the second quarter valued at about $106,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in HealthStream by 14.9% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 5,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in HealthStream by 342.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in HealthStream by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Jeff Cunningham sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $758,570.01. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tate Deborah Taylor sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.46, for a total transaction of $40,226.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,813.42. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,680 shares of company stock valued at $139,336. Corporate insiders own 20.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HealthStream from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HealthStream currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

HealthStream Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of HSTM stock opened at $23.83 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.97 and a 200 day moving average of $26.54. HealthStream, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.61 and a twelve month high of $34.24. The stock has a market cap of $707.04 million, a P/E ratio of 35.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.45.

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

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

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.031 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 17.65%.

About HealthStream

HealthStream, Inc is a Nashville, Tennessee–based provider of workforce development and learning management solutions for healthcare organizations. Since its founding in 1990, the company has focused on helping hospitals, clinics and other care providers streamline staff training, ensure regulatory compliance and monitor employee performance. HealthStream’s platform integrates online courses, skill competency assessments and credential management tools to support workforce readiness across the healthcare continuum.

The company’s core offerings include a learning management system (LMS) designed specifically for clinical and nonclinical personnel, a competency management suite that tracks skill acquisition and validation, and a content library featuring evidence-based clinical and compliance training modules.