Northern Trust Corp Purchases 36,239 Shares of HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM - Free Report) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 306,440 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,239 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.01% of HealthStream worth $9,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of HealthStream by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 74,468 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,368,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of HealthStream by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,672 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HealthStream by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 15,814 shares of the technology company's stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Bridge City Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of HealthStream by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 59,254 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of HealthStream by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 15,445 shares of the technology company's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the period. 69.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HealthStream Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ HSTM traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 216,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,137. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $30.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.89. HealthStream, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.84 and a 1 year high of $34.24. The company has a market capitalization of $834.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.08, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.50.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.02). HealthStream had a return on equity of 5.67% and a net margin of 6.84%. The business had revenue of $73.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $74.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that HealthStream, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

HealthStream Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.031 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. HealthStream's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on HSTM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on HealthStream from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HealthStream has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.50.

HealthStream 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.