NewEdge Wealth LLC Takes $1.29 Million Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 21,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,286,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EXPO. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Exponent by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Exponent by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 717 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in Exponent by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Exponent by 1.7% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 12,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Exponent by 9.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,504.35. This trade represents a 64.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total value of $113,139.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,557,278.24. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,826 shares of company stock valued at $463,398 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on Exponent and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Exponent Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $70.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.95 and its 200-day moving average is $64.60. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.91 and a 52-week high of $81.95. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48 and a beta of 0.68.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The business had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.61%.

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.