Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) VP Joseph Rakow Sells 2,945 Shares of Stock

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) VP Joseph Rakow sold 2,945 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.66, for a total value of $160,973.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Exponent Trading Down 4.6%

EXPO opened at $54.54 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.96. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37 and a beta of 0.78. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.91 and a 12-month high of $81.95.

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

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Exponent in the 4th quarter worth about $51,166,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in Exponent in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,780,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Exponent by 135.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 580,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,308,000 after buying an additional 334,154 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Exponent by 115.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 547,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,046,000 after buying an additional 293,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Exponent by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 652,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,295,000 after buying an additional 276,889 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EXPO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.