Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Given New $80.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) had its target price cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $95.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on EXPO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued 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 $77.50.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of EXPO stock opened at $53.79 on Friday. Exponent has a 12 month low of $51.91 and a 12 month high of $81.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.74.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.53 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 27.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exponent will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

Insider Activity at Exponent

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total transaction of $226,727.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 105,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,688,085.08. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 2,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.66, for a total transaction of $117,059.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 20,946 shares of company stock valued at $1,296,649 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its stake in Exponent by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exponent during the 1st quarter worth $5,742,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Exponent during the 1st quarter worth $218,000. Gibbs Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 6,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 226,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,766,000 after purchasing an additional 30,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

About Exponent

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.