First Trust Advisors LP Raises Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 964,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,471 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Exponent were worth $62,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Exponent by 423.6% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 86.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Exponent by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Exponent by 37.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Exponent news, VP Joseph Rakow sold 2,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.66, for a total transaction of $160,973.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,105 shares in the company, valued at $63,504.35. This represents a 64.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,324 shares of company stock valued at $855,019. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.50.

Exponent Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $61.44 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.91 and a 12-month high of $81.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.58 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

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.