Exponent, Inc. $EXPO Shares Bought by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,151 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP owned 0.15% of Exponent worth $5,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Exponent in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,752,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Exponent during the second quarter valued at approximately $18,377,000. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Exponent by 49.9% in the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 501,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,448,000 after acquiring an additional 166,930 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exponent by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $140,288,000 after purchasing an additional 131,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Exponent by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 638,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,671,000 after purchasing an additional 128,131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXPO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, February 9th. William Blair upgraded shares of Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Exponent in a research report on Monday, January 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exponent presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.50.

Exponent Stock Down 0.4%

EXPO opened at $72.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99 and a beta of 0.79. Exponent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.81 and a twelve month high of $87.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.99.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 18.21%.The company had revenue of $147.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Exponent’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $263,228.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,294,036.65. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $303,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 25,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,914,747.88. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,808 shares of company stock valued at $915,845. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Exponent Company 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.