Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 40,370 Shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 23.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,421 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 40,370 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of Exponent worth $15,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in Exponent in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,904,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Exponent by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,286,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,153,000 after acquiring an additional 291,047 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Exponent by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,640,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $441,414,000 after acquiring an additional 284,179 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Exponent in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,050,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,261,000. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul R. Johnston sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.60, for a total transaction of $1,464,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 80,742 shares in the company, valued at $8,445,613.20. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,039 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.32, for a total value of $100,076.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,494.72. This trade represents a 15.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,039 shares of company stock valued at $2,291,286 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Exponent in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Exponent Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPO opened at $97.40 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.70 and a 12 month high of $115.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.05 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $107.23 and a 200-day moving average of $101.97.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.11%.

Exponent Profile

Exponent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health. The Engineering and Other Scientific segment provides services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering and sciences, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, data sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, human factors, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, thermal sciences, and vehicle engineering.