First Trust Advisors LP Has $4.67 Million Holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,439 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,323 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.10% of Exponent worth $4,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Exponent in the 4th quarter worth $55,131,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,381,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Exponent during the fourth quarter worth $38,538,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Exponent by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,644 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $72,701,000 after acquiring an additional 245,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Exponent by 88.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 181,921 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,209,000 after buying an additional 85,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other Exponent news, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,736 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.93, for a total transaction of $149,174.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,674. The trade was a 49.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

EXPO stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.86. The company had a trading volume of 232,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 242,354. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 0.95. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.37 and a fifty-two week high of $115.75.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $137.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. 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.