Neuberger Berman Group LLC Cuts Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Neuberger Berman Group LLC cut its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,563,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,247 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $108,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 97.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Exponent in the third quarter worth $33,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Exponent in the third quarter worth $34,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Exponent by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,914,747.88. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,808 shares of company stock worth $915,845. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $71.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.08. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.81 and a 1 year high of $87.88.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $147.43 million for 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.69%.

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.