Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. decreased its position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 34,053 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Exponent were worth $2,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXPO. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 1.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 133,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Exponent by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 441,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,800,000 after buying an additional 8,501 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Exponent by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 12,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its position in Exponent by 306.7% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 30,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after buying an additional 23,000 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new position in Exponent in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $284,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other Exponent news, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total value of $112,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total value of $329,422.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 82,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,529,555.46. This represents a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 16,326 shares of company stock worth $1,133,059 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Exponent Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $70.57 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.81 and a fifty-two week high of $107.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29 and a beta of 0.91.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Exponent had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 24.19%. The company had revenue of $147.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is 58.54%.

Exponent declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.