Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Separately, B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Spok in a report on Thursday. They set a neutral rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company.

Spok Price Performance

SPOK opened at $15.16 on Thursday. Spok has a one year low of $13.24 and a one year high of $18.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.93 million, a P/E ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.26.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter. Spok had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $33.98 million for the quarter.

Spok Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.313 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.26%. Spok’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 150.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spok news, COO Michael W. Wallace sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.80, for a total transaction of $370,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 49,465 shares in the company, valued at $732,082. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Spok news, COO Michael W. Wallace sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.80, for a total value of $370,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 49,465 shares in the company, valued at $732,082. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Vincent D. Kelly sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.83, for a total value of $667,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 201,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,990,395.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spok

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Spok in the second quarter worth about $112,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spok during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Spok by 82.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,577 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 3,884 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Spok during the first quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Spok in the second quarter worth $196,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.81% of the company’s stock.

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.