Exponent, Inc. $EXPO Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 24.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,232 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPO. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in Exponent during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Exponent during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Exponent during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its position in Exponent by 33.9% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXPO. William Blair upgraded shares of Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Exponent in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exponent presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $263,228.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,294,036.65. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $303,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 25,204 shares in the company, valued at $1,914,747.88. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 12,808 shares of company stock valued at $915,845 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $74.32 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.81 and a 1 year high of $87.88. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.07.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $147.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.48 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 18.21%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 57.69%.

Exponent Profile

Exponent, Inc (NASDAQ: EXPO) is an engineering and scientific consulting firm that offers multidisciplinary analysis and advisory services to clients across a range of industries. The company’s expertise spans mechanical, materials and corrosion engineering, civil and structural engineering, electrical engineering, industrial hygiene, toxicology and health sciences, and failure analysis. Exponent provides support for product design, performance evaluation, litigation consulting, and regulatory compliance, helping manufacturers, insurers, law firms and government agencies address complex technical challenges.

Founded in 1967 in Menlo Park, California, Exponent has grown from a small failure-analysis laboratory into a global consulting practice.