Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Price Target Lowered to $95.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan lowered its price target on Exponent from $100 to $95 but kept an "overweight" rating, with the new target implying about a 44.15% upside from the stock's previous close.
• Recent quarter beat expectations — Exponent reported $0.49 EPS vs. $0.47 expected and $147.43M revenue (vs. $128.48M est.), with revenue up 4.5% year-over-year and a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" (consensus target $90).
• Insiders have been sellers recently (9,583 shares worth $687,709 sold last quarter, including sales by the CEO and a VP) while institutional ownership is very high at 92.37%.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $100.00 to $95.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the business services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 44.15% from the stock's previous close.

EXPO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Exponent in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.00.

Exponent Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of EXPO stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $65.90. 122,110 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 467,110. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 0.77. Exponent has a 12-month low of $63.81 and a 12-month high of $83.92. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.70.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Exponent had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The company had revenue of $147.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exponent will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total value of $263,228.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,294,036.65. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction of $303,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 25,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,914,747.88. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,583 shares of company stock worth $687,709. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Exponent by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,473 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 4,006 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 331.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,340 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,566 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Exponent by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,149 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 2,331 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Exponent during the 4th quarter worth $602,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Exponent by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 581,878 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,417,000 after buying an additional 15,440 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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