Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stake in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Exponent were worth $7,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Exponent during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Exponent during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Exponent in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Exponent by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exponent Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $64.47 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.62. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.25 and a fifty-two week high of $83.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 0.77.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $147.43 million for 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%.Exponent’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares in the company, valued at $6,294,036.65. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,583 shares of company stock valued at $687,709. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPO has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Exponent from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.00.

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.