Legal & General Group Plc Purchases Shares of 70,519 Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 70,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,144,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.15% of Exponent at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EXPO. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 period. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Exponent by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Exponent by 1.7% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 12,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Exponent by 9.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exponent Stock Performance

Exponent stock opened at $68.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65 and a beta of 0.68. Exponent, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.91 and a 52 week high of $81.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.46.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Exponent’s payout ratio is 55.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total value of $113,139.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,108 shares in the company, valued at $8,557,278.24. This trade represents a 1.30% 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. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on shares of Exponent and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued 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 Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exponent presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

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.