BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $1.65 Million Stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 55.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,521 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 23,207 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Exponent were worth $1,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 129.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Exponent during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Exponent by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Exponent in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in Exponent in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Exponent

In other news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.52, for a total transaction of $214,226.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,736 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.93, for a total value of $149,174.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,800 shares in the company, valued at $154,674. The trade was a 49.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of Exponent stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $77.43. 203,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 245,138. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.52 and a beta of 0.95. Exponent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.37 and a twelve month high of $115.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.51.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $137.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.63 million. Exponent had a net margin of 19.52% and a return on equity of 27.27%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Exponent's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.54%.

Exponent Profile

Exponent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineering and Other Scientific, and Environmental and Health. The Engineering and Other Scientific segment provides services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering and sciences, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, data sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, human factors, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, thermal sciences, and vehicle engineering.