Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 7,232 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 24.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,232 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $119,360,000 after purchasing an additional 21,272 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Exponent by 18.3% during the third quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 705,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,980,000 after buying an additional 109,160 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Exponent by 15.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 645,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,242,000 after buying an additional 88,350 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Exponent by 25.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 638,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,671,000 after buying an additional 128,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent in the second quarter worth about $43,752,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Exponent Stock Up 1.9%

EXPO opened at $74.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73 and a beta of 0.77. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month high of $87.88.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $147.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.48 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 18.21%.Exponent’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 57.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of Exponent 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,294,036.65. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $303,880.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 25,204 shares in the company, valued at $1,914,747.88. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,808 shares of company stock worth $915,845. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.