Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) VP Shukri Jeries Souri Buys 184 Shares

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) VP Shukri Jeries Souri bought 184 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.45 per share, for a total transaction of $12,594.80. Following the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 40,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,797,756.85. The trade was a 0.45% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Exponent Trading Down 1.8%

EXPO stock traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.94. 121,574 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,759. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.91 and a 52-week high of $81.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.00 and its 200 day moving average is $64.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55 and a beta of 0.68.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $171.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.99 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 31.48% and a net margin of 17.67%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.61%.

Institutional Trading of Exponent

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 423.6% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Exponent in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Exponent by 86.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exponent by 37.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXPO. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on Exponent and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Exponent presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

Exponent Company Profile

Exponent, Inc is a multidisciplinary engineering and scientific consulting company that helps clients investigate complex technical issues, manage risk and improve the safety, performance and reliability of products, systems and operations. Its work commonly involves failure analysis, accident reconstruction, product liability, materials and structures, biomechanics, environmental sciences and health, and human factors.

The company provides consulting, testing, research and expert-witness services to businesses, insurers, law firms and government agencies.