Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent during the first quarter worth $25,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Exponent by 92.1% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 465 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 521 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Exponent during the first quarter worth about $74,000. 89.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Exponent

In other Exponent news, VP Steven J. Murray sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $89,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 27,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,453,374. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 31st. TheStreet cut Exponent from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Exponent in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Exponent in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.50.

Exponent Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $90.43 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $91.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 45.90 and a beta of 0.62. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.27 and a 12-month high of $112.75.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $129.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.40 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 19.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.79%.

Exponent Company 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.