A stock trading plan set up by Corrections Corp. of America President and CEO Damon Hininger this week exercised about 20,000 options that were granted him in 2010 and 2012 and then sold the resulting shares. When all was said and done, Hininger had earned a profit of almost $540,000 on the transactions. CCA shares (Ticker: CXW) have climbed almost 40 percent in the past year.

Coming off a year when HealthStream grew its top line by more than a quarter and operating income rose 19 percent, the company's board of directors has awarded 5 percent raises to its top executives. As detailed in HealthStream's proxy statement filed this week, President and CEO Bobby Frist will be paid a 2013 base salary of almost $270,000 while his top lieutenants all will get between $202,000 and $256,000.

Shares of HealthStream (Ticker: HSTM) closed Thursday at $22.27 and have fallen about 8 percent year to date.

Directors of Community Health Systems last week approved 2012 bonuses for the company's top six officers. The Franklin-based hospital operator will cut checks totaling $8.1 million, more than half of which is going to Chairman, President and CEO Wayne Smith. Both Smith and CFO Larry Cash are getting the largest possible bonus payments, which are based on six companywide performance measures.

But Smith, Cash and other top CHS executives aren't getting a base salary bump this year, just as they didn't in 2012. They'll have to be happy with the idea that they're getting more performance-based restricted stock this year instead of options. Check out all the details here.

The board of Tractor Supply and former CEO Jim Wright put pen to paper this week on the newly installed executive chairman's pay package for 2013. Wright, whose 2011 cash-and-stock pay package topped $7.4 million, will be paid a base salary of $400,000 to help Greg Sandfort make the transition into the CEO's chair. He will not be eligible for any bonus payments.

SEE ALSO: Sandfort's salary bump