Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $63.86 and traded as high as $66.05. Exponent shares last traded at $65.42, with a volume of 678,175 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EXPO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Exponent and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

Exponent Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.88.

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

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total transaction of $113,139.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,557,278.24. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exponent

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 2nd quarter worth $363,428,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Exponent by 7.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 964,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,954,000 after buying an additional 66,471 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Exponent by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 918,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,958,000 after buying an additional 20,270 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Exponent in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,166,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Exponent by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 691,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,102,000 after buying an additional 23,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Company Profile

Exponent, Inc is an engineering and scientific consulting company that helps clients investigate complex technical issues, manage risk, and improve the safety and performance of products, systems, and structures. Its multidisciplinary consulting services support legal, insurance, industrial, government, and other organizational clients.

The company’s services include failure analysis, accident reconstruction, product safety and testing, materials and corrosion analysis, environmental and human health assessments, biomechanics, human factors, electrical and electronic systems analysis, civil and structural engineering, and data sciences.