Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 14,200 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,340,000. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 172,868 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,219,000 after purchasing an additional 66,664 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 261.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,510 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,975,000 after purchasing an additional 40,886 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 2.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 35,515 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,040,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Exponent by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 466,940 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $39,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,819 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Guyer sold 3,367 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.49, for a total transaction of $264,275.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXPO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Exponent from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Exponent from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd.

Exponent Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXPO traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.36. The company had a trading volume of 162,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,250. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 41.21 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.93. Exponent, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week high of $101.65.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $113.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.11 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.69% and a return on equity of 28.49%. The business's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Exponent's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Exponent's payout ratio is 57.44%.

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.