JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 157,457 Shares of Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 24.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 480,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 157,457 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.96% of Exponent worth $33,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Exponent during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $210,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $377,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 621.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 428.9% in the 3rd quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP now owns 59,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,147,000 after purchasing an additional 48,404 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 44.2% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 255,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,728,000 after purchasing an additional 78,237 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Exponent in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Exponent in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exponent has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total value of $263,228.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,294,036.65. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Pye sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,914,747.88. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,583 shares of company stock valued at $687,709 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exponent Trading Up 2.5%

EXPO opened at $66.76 on Monday. Exponent, Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.81 and a 1-year high of $83.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.82.

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

Exponent Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change 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%. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Exponent 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.