JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock Price

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) had its target price decreased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $100.00 to $95.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 47.36% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on EXPO. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Exponent Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of EXPO opened at $64.47 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.61. Exponent has a 52-week low of $63.25 and a 52-week high of $83.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 0.77.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $147.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.48 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 18.21%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exponent will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $303,880.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 25,204 shares in the company, valued at $1,914,747.88. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total transaction of $263,228.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,294,036.65. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,583 shares of company stock valued at $687,709. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exponent

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Exponent in the third quarter valued at $427,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Exponent by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 90,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,000 after buying an additional 28,629 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Exponent by 157.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 36,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,558,000 after buying an additional 22,503 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 705,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,980,000 after acquiring an additional 109,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 25.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 638,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,671,000 after acquiring an additional 128,131 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Exponent

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.