Short Interest in Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK) Increases By 36.1%

Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in 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 trading volume of 127,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Insider Activity

In other Spok news, Director Barbara Peterson Byrne sold 5,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.18, for a total value of $90,396.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,473 shares in the company, valued at $462,580.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spok in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,759,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spok in 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 about $681,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Spok by 51.4% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 104,258 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 35,390 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spok in the 2nd quarter valued at about $523,000. 50.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spok Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ SPOK traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $15.14. The company had a trading volume of 155,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,642. The company has a market capitalization of $306.74 million, a PE ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.77. Spok has a twelve month low of $12.76 and a twelve month high of $18.14.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $34.91 million during the quarter.

Spok Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.313 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.27%. Spok’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.