HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell 18.6% in March to 901,059 shares, leaving a days-to-cover of 2.8 and roughly 3.8% of the company's shares shorted.
• Board authorized a $10.0 million share buyback (up to about 1.7% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.035 (annualized $0.14, ~0.7% yield).
• Recent quarter beat estimates with EPS of $0.18 vs. $0.16 expected and revenue of $79.71M vs. $76.21M, while analysts maintain an average "Reduce" rating and a $25 consensus target.

HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 901,059 shares, a decrease of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 1,106,908 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 325,855 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HealthStream

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of HealthStream by 6.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,354 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S grew its position in shares of HealthStream by 175.0% in the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 1,100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of HealthStream by 8.7% in the second quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,196 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of HealthStream by 7.8% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 12,373 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of HealthStream by 1.9% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 48,533 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSTM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $25.00 price objective on HealthStream in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered HealthStream from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $25.00.

HealthStream Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ HSTM traded up $0.32 on Thursday, reaching $21.36. 172,853 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,609. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $20.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.09. The company has a market cap of $628.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.46. HealthStream has a 12 month low of $19.50 and a 12 month high of $34.13.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $79.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.21 million. HealthStream had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 6.03%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HealthStream will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.035 per share. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This is an increase from HealthStream's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. HealthStream's dividend payout ratio is 22.95%.

HealthStream declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, March 13th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

HealthStream Company Profile

HealthStream, Inc is a Nashville, Tennessee–based provider of workforce development and learning management solutions for healthcare organizations. Since its founding in 1990, the company has focused on helping hospitals, clinics and other care providers streamline staff training, ensure regulatory compliance and monitor employee performance. HealthStream's platform integrates online courses, skill competency assessments and credential management tools to support workforce readiness across the healthcare continuum.

The company's core offerings include a learning management system (LMS) designed specifically for clinical and nonclinical personnel, a competency management suite that tracks skill acquisition and validation, and a content library featuring evidence-based clinical and compliance training modules.

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