Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 57,300 HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSTM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 57,300 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,822,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.19% of HealthStream at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HSTM. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HealthStream in the fourth quarter worth $80,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of HealthStream during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of HealthStream by 1,074.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,747 shares of the technology company's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in HealthStream during the fourth quarter worth approximately $183,000. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in HealthStream during the 4th quarter valued at $275,000. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HealthStream Stock Performance

HSTM traded down $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.97. 70,141 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 140,134. HealthStream, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.84 and a 1 year high of $34.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.97. The firm has a market cap of $884.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.50.

HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HealthStream, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HealthStream announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 8th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

HealthStream Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.031 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. HealthStream's payout ratio is 19.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on HealthStream from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of HealthStream in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.