Exponent, Inc. $EXPO Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 4,466.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,639 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 274,493 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.58% of Exponent worth $18,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Exponent by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Exponent by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 86.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,525 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EXPO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Exponent Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $63.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.07. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.91 and a 12 month high of $81.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58 and a beta of 0.72.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.53 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 18.07%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,119 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $235,318.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 106,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,094,057.10. This represents a 3.72% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.47, for a total transaction of $114,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,504.35. This trade represents a 64.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,233 shares of company stock worth $1,119,659. Company 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.

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