84,034 Exponent, Inc. $EXPO Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,239,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 84,034 shares during the quarter. Exponent comprises approximately 0.7% of Royce & Associates LP’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 2.61% of Exponent worth $81,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 78.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 28,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 12,317 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC bought a new position in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,520,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Exponent by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Exponent from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Exponent from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Exponent from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, November 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Exponent from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exponent currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.44, for a total value of $110,643.20. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,008 shares in the company, valued at $87,131.52. The trade was a 55.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 129,108 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of Exponent stock traded up $1.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $87.31. The stock had a trading volume of 273,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,213. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.63 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.23. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.91 and a fifty-two week high of $90.51.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. Exponent had a return on equity of 34.61% and a net margin of 17.40%. The business had revenue of $173.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.45%.

Exponent Company Profile

Exponent, Inc. is a multidisciplinary engineering and scientific consulting firm that helps clients investigate complex technical issues and manage risk. Its consultants analyze incidents such as product failures and accidents, assess potential hazards, and provide expert advice on engineering, scientific, and regulatory matters. The company’s services span fields including engineering, materials science, environmental science, health, and data analytics. Clients use Exponent’s expertise for product development and testing, litigation support, regulatory compliance, and risk assessment across a range of industries.