Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 15,100 Shares of HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in HealthStream by 26.4%, selling 15,100 shares in the first quarter, while other institutional investors like Copeland Capital Management and Cerity Partners made significant increases to their positions.
• HealthStream's stock has recently been rated with a "hold" by Canaccord Genuity, with a lowered price target of $29.00, while the overall consensus rate remains a "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $31.50.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.031 per share, representing a 0.5% yield, alongside a share repurchase program authorizing the buyback of up to $25 million in shares.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM - Free Report) by 26.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,200 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 15,100 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of HealthStream worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in HealthStream by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,672 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in HealthStream by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,174 shares of the technology company's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HealthStream by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 15,814 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in HealthStream by 30.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the technology company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 99.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HealthStream Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of HSTM traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.94. 46,414 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 178,853. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.21 and a 200-day moving average of $30.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $791.67 million, a PE ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.43. HealthStream, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.36 and a 1-year high of $34.24.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The technology company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. HealthStream had a return on equity of 5.70% and a net margin of 6.89%. The firm had revenue of $74.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.39 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HealthStream, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 8th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.031 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. HealthStream's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of HealthStream from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.00.

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.