Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Trims Stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Key Points

• Montanaro Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in Exponent, Inc. by 26.2%, owning 124,200 shares worth approximately $10.07 million at the end of the recent quarter.
• In the first quarter, multiple institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in Exponent, with staked increases of 5,333.3% and 859.1% by Whipplewood Advisors LLC and UMB Bank n.a., respectively.
• Exponent announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%, with the payment date set for September 19th.

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd lessened its position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 26.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,200 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 44,100 shares during the quarter. Exponent comprises 3.0% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.24% of Exponent worth $10,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,828 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $141,517,000 after purchasing an additional 176,152 shares during the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new stake in shares of Exponent in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,564,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exponent in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $10,828,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 88.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 181,921 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,209,000 after purchasing an additional 85,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 506,784 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,250,000 after purchasing an additional 74,605 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total transaction of $112,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total value of $348,056.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,782,602.78. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,758 shares of company stock worth $949,848 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO traded down $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.25. The company had a trading volume of 539,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 310,341. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63 and a beta of 0.89. Exponent, Inc. has a one year low of $63.81 and a one year high of $115.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.82.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.82 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Exponent's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Exponent's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.00%.

About Exponent

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.