Renaissance Technologies LLC Makes New Investment in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 88,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,742,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.18% of Exponent as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in Exponent in the 1st quarter worth approximately $218,000. Gibbs Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 19.1% in the first quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 6,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 15.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 226,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,766,000 after buying an additional 30,449 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 16.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 5,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 14.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on Exponent and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,119 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $235,318.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 106,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,094,057.10. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,504.35. This represents a 64.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 15,324 shares of company stock valued at $855,019 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exponent Trading Down 1.4%

EXPO stock opened at $66.89 on Thursday. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.91 and a 12 month high of $81.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00 and a beta of 0.68.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $171.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.99 million. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. 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.