Fenimore Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 266,892 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,417 shares during the quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc owned about 0.53% of Exponent worth $18,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 97.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Exponent Stock Down 2.4%
EXPO opened at $65.28 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.96 and a 200-day moving average of $70.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 0.78. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.25 and a 12-month high of $81.95.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.53 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 26.76% and a net margin of 18.07%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Exponent Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 59.62%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total value of $264,639.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,676 shares in the company, valued at $7,018,865.20. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $303,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president 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. Insiders sold 15,741 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,768 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.
Key Exponent News
Here are the key news stories impacting Exponent this week:
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXPO. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on EXPO
Exponent Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
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