John Pye Sells 4,000 Shares of Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Exponent Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $66.79 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11 and a beta of 0.79. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month high of $91.41.

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

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.69%.

Exponent announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exponent

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Exponent during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Exponent by 86.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Exponent in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPO has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Exponent in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.50.

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.