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

Geneva Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,858,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,080 shares during the quarter. Exponent comprises about 2.2% of Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $129,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPO. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Exponent during the first quarter worth $270,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Exponent by 1,481.0% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 119,175 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Exponent by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 24,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,863,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,597,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $119,360,000 after buying an additional 21,272 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EXPO shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a research note on Monday, February 9th. William Blair upgraded Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Exponent in a research report on Monday, January 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $303,880.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 25,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,914,747.88. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $263,228.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,731 shares in the company, valued at $6,294,036.65. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 12,808 shares of company stock valued at $915,845 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Price Performance

NASDAQ EXPO opened at $70.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.10. Exponent, Inc. has a one year low of $63.81 and a one year high of $84.97.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $147.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.48 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 18.21%.The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

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.