HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded HealthStream to “Buy” from “Hold,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold” with a $27.00 price target.
• HealthStream’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted earnings of $0.23 per share versus the $0.17 estimate and revenue of $83.73 million versus $80.82 million expected.
• The stock opened at $33.70, near its 52-week high of $35.60, while insiders recently sold shares and institutional investors own approximately 69.58% of the company.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HSTM. Freedom Capital raised shares of HealthStream to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of HealthStream from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HealthStream from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HealthStream presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.00.

HealthStream Trading Down 0.3%

HSTM opened at $33.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.59. HealthStream has a 1 year low of $19.50 and a 1 year high of $35.60. The stock has a market cap of $984.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.81, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.42.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.06. HealthStream had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 6.60%. The firm had revenue of $83.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.82 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HealthStream will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other HealthStream news, Director Linda Rebrovick sold 12,000 shares of HealthStream stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 39,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,376,515. This trade represents a 23.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert A. Frist, Jr. sold 144,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total transaction of $4,250,006.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,907,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,257,621. This trade represents a 3.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of HealthStream

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HealthStream in the 2nd quarter valued at $111,184,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of HealthStream by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,456,043 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,156,000 after acquiring an additional 87,177 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in HealthStream by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,276,739 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,441,000 after buying an additional 389,186 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in HealthStream by 0.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 477,848 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,896,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of HealthStream by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 377,945 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,827,000 after purchasing an additional 65,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.58% of the company's stock.

About HealthStream

HealthStream, Inc provides workforce and provider solutions designed for healthcare organizations. Its software and services help hospitals, health systems, medical practices and other healthcare providers manage employee education, training, credentialing, compliance and professional development.

The company's offerings include learning management and education tools, competency and performance-management solutions, and systems for managing provider credentials, privileging and enrollment.

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