Creative Planning Purchases 2,847 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Exponent were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Exponent by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 13,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $974,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 11,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Exponent by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,597,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $119,360,000 after acquiring an additional 21,272 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its stake in Exponent by 9.2% during the second quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 24,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Exponent by 17.6% during the second quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 596,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,442,000 after purchasing an additional 89,334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Up 0.2%

EXPO opened at $72.57 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.05 and a 200 day moving average of $72.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29 and a beta of 0.91. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.81 and a 52-week high of $99.94.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $147.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.78 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 18.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.54%.

Exponent declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair upgraded shares of Exponent from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exponent presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Insider Activity at Exponent

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total transaction of $329,422.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 82,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,529,555.46. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 14,735 shares of company stock worth $1,017,242 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.