Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Raises Holdings in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its stake in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM - Free Report) by 62.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,952 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 35,252 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned about 0.30% of HealthStream worth $2,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of HealthStream in the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in HealthStream by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 11,257 shares of the technology company's stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HealthStream in the fourth quarter worth $233,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in HealthStream by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 32,478 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,031,000 after buying an additional 8,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in HealthStream in the fourth quarter worth $1,822,000. Institutional investors own 69.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

HealthStream Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of HSTM stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.09. 194,310 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 146,569. HealthStream, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.84 and a 1 year high of $34.24. The company's 50 day moving average is $30.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.74. The firm has a market cap of $857.45 million, a PE ratio of 43.22, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $73.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $74.93 million. HealthStream had a return on equity of 5.67% and a net margin of 6.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that HealthStream, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.031 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. HealthStream's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.05%.

HealthStream declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 8th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.