Brokerages Set HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) Target Price at $31.50

Shares of HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.50.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HSTM. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of HealthStream from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th.

HealthStream Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HSTM traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.88. 139,629 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 148,844. The company's fifty day moving average is $30.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.58. HealthStream has a fifty-two week low of $25.84 and a fifty-two week high of $34.24. The stock has a market cap of $851.04 million, a PE ratio of 42.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.43.

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

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.031 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. HealthStream's payout ratio is currently 19.05%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in HealthStream by 101.3% in the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 763,690 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $24,576,000 after acquiring an additional 384,384 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of HealthStream by 3,889.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 300,070 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,534,000 after purchasing an additional 292,548 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of HealthStream in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,649,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HealthStream in the first quarter valued at about $3,228,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HealthStream by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,055,060 shares of the technology company's stock worth $97,151,000 after buying an additional 92,067 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.58% of the company's stock.

About HealthStream

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.