Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 14,527 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 81.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,527 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Exponent were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EXPO. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Exponent during the third quarter valued at $29,780,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 135.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 580,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,308,000 after acquiring an additional 334,154 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 49.9% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 501,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,448,000 after acquiring an additional 166,930 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 1,481.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after acquiring an additional 119,175 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $48,980,000 after acquiring an additional 109,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

Exponent Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $64.21 on Thursday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.25 and a 1-year high of $81.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.67%.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other news, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president owned 25,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,914,747.88. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total value of $264,639.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,865.20. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,741 shares of company stock worth $1,095,768. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.