HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) Short Interest Up 25.9% in May

HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 277,300 shares, a growth of 25.9% from the April 30th total of 220,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 120,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

HealthStream Stock Performance

NASDAQ HSTM traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 83,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,122. HealthStream has a fifty-two week low of $20.47 and a fifty-two week high of $29.12. The stock has a market cap of $829.56 million, a PE ratio of 47.05, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $26.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.41.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.07. HealthStream had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 5.21%. The company had revenue of $72.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $71.88 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that HealthStream will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.028 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. HealthStream's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on HSTM. StockNews.com cut shares of HealthStream from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Scott Fenstermacher sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $26,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,679.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 20.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HealthStream

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of HealthStream by 295.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,712 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,886,000 after purchasing an additional 99,913 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of HealthStream by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 58,816 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,590,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of HealthStream by 2.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 194,988 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,208,000 after acquiring an additional 4,717 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of HealthStream by 3.1% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 635,132 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,913,000 after acquiring an additional 19,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HealthStream by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 407,428 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,013,000 after acquiring an additional 52,652 shares during the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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