Short Interest in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) Expands By 22.0%

HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) saw a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 346,500 shares, an increase of 22.0% from the June 30th total of 284,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 118,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

HealthStream Stock Performance

HSTM stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.21. The company had a trading volume of 246,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 110,383. The company has a market cap of $888.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.38. HealthStream has a twelve month low of $20.47 and a twelve month high of $31.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.06.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. HealthStream had a net margin of 6.26% and a return on equity of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $71.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that HealthStream will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

HealthStream Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.028 dividend. This represents a $0.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. HealthStream’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HSTM shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HealthStream from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on HealthStream from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Scott Fenstermacher sold 1,000 shares of HealthStream stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $26,190.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,679.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 20.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HealthStream

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 172.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 996 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 405.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,709 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of HealthStream during the first quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 80.4% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 8,045 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.58% of the company’s stock.

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.