Ameriprise Financial Inc. Takes $494,000 Position in Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPOK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 30,779 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock, valued at approximately $494,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.15% of Spok as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Spok in the 4th quarter worth $210,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Spok by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 207,068 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 8,175 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Spok by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 18,791 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Spok by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,513 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 3,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Spok by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,546 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on SPOK shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spok from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. B. Riley raised Spok to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spok

In related news, COO Michael W. Wallace sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.53, for a total transaction of $99,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 61,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,011,222.75. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Vincent D. Kelly sold 30,000 shares of Spok stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $492,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,588,198.80. The trade was a 15.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Spok Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Spok stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $16.49. 87,345 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 120,549. The company has a market cap of $339.23 million, a PE ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.51. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $15.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.13. Spok Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.55 and a 52 week high of $17.96.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $36.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.00 million. Spok had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 9.20%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Spok Holdings, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spok Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Spok's payout ratio is 160.26%.

Spok Profile

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.