Geneva Capital Management LLC Sells 19,080 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Geneva Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,858,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,080 shares during the period. Exponent makes up about 2.2% of Geneva Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Geneva Capital Management LLC owned approximately 3.68% of Exponent worth $129,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Exponent by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,597,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $119,360,000 after buying an additional 21,272 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Exponent by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 705,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,980,000 after acquiring an additional 109,160 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Exponent by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 645,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,242,000 after acquiring an additional 88,350 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 638,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,671,000 after acquiring an additional 128,131 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,752,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXPO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Exponent in a research note 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. began coverage on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exponent presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Exponent Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ EXPO opened at $70.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77 and a beta of 0.77. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.81 and a 12 month high of $84.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.10.

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

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a boost from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 59.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,294,036.65. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $303,880.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 25,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,914,747.88. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,808 shares of company stock worth $915,845. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.