Catherine Corrigan Sells 4,119 Shares of Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,119 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $235,318.47. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 106,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,094,057.10. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Catherine Corrigan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of Exponent stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total value of $226,727.64.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of Exponent stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total value of $264,639.30.

Exponent Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ EXPO traded down $0.33 on Wednesday, reaching $57.01. The company had a trading volume of 801,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,764. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.58 and its 200-day moving average is $67.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52 and a beta of 0.72. Exponent, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.91 and a 52 week high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.53 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 18.07%.Exponent’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on EXPO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exponent

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Exponent by 87,479.8% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 230,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,999,000 after buying an additional 230,072 shares in the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC lifted its stake in Exponent by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 554,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,494,000 after purchasing an additional 71,178 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 375,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,070,000 after acquiring an additional 94,205 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Exponent by 135.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 580,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,308,000 after purchasing an additional 334,154 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in Exponent by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 176,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,253,000 after acquiring an additional 40,359 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.