Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK) Short Interest Update

Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 554,500 shares, a growth of 36.1% from the June 30th total of 407,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 127,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barbara Peterson Byrne sold 5,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.18, for a total value of $90,396.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,580.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Spok

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Spok during the 1st quarter worth $3,759,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Spok during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,868,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spok in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $681,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Spok by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 104,258 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 35,390 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Spok by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,026,201 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $16,368,000 after buying an additional 31,888 shares in the last quarter. 50.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Spok from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday.

Spok Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ SPOK traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 227,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,785. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.17 and a 200 day moving average of $15.76. Spok has a twelve month low of $12.76 and a twelve month high of $18.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $312.40 million, a P/E ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.35.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter. Spok had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.19%. The company had revenue of $34.91 million for the quarter.

Spok Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.313 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.11%. Spok’s payout ratio is currently 150.60%.

About Spok

Spok Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, Spok, Inc, provides healthcare communication solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. The company's products and services enhance workflows for clinicians and support administrative compliance. It delivers clinical information to care teams when and where it matters to enhance patient outcomes; and provides GenA Pager, a one-way alphanumeric pager.