Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) VP Sells $114,940.00 in Stock

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) VP Bradley James sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,504.35. This represents a 64.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Exponent Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of EXPO opened at $58.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 0.78. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.91 and a 52-week high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.53 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 27.94%. Exponent’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exponent

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 423.6% during the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 97.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Exponent in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 86.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exponent in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

More Exponent News

Here are the key news stories impacting Exponent this week:

• Negative Sentiment: VP Bradley James sold 2,000 shares at $57.47, cutting his position by 64.41%, which can weigh on sentiment because insider selling often raises questions about near-term confidence. Article: Bradley James Sells 2,000 Shares of Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: The company reported a sharp increase in short-interest-related data, but the figures shown were zero shares, so this looks more like a data anomaly than a meaningful trading signal.
• Positive Sentiment: Exponent’s most recent quarterly results were better than expected, with EPS of $0.59 versus estimates of $0.56 and revenue of $166.3 million versus $149.5 million expected, showing the core business is still growing at a healthy pace.
• Positive Sentiment: The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, supporting the stock’s income appeal, even though the payout is not large enough to offset current valuation pressure on its own.

Exponent Company 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.