Swiss National Bank Reduces Stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.19% of Exponent worth $7,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 5,333.3% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 859.1% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 633 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Exponent in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 103.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 681 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXPO opened at $69.25 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $115.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.63 and a beta of 0.89.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.82 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 18.35%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Bradley A. James sold 2,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.52, for a total value of $214,226.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Rakow sold 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.72, for a total value of $122,253.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,758 shares of company stock worth $949,848 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Exponent

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.