First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 66,471 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 964,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 66,471 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.99% of Exponent worth $62,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,166,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,780,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 115.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 547,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,046,000 after purchasing an additional 293,075 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 652,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,295,000 after purchasing an additional 276,889 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 4,466.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 280,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,312,000 after buying an additional 274,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $61.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.25 and a 200 day moving average of $65.55. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.91 and a fifty-two week high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.53 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 18.07%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Exponent in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total value of $226,727.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 105,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,688,085.08. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Joseph Rakow sold 2,945 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.66, for a total transaction of $160,973.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,324 shares of company stock valued at $855,019. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exponent Company Profile

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.