Royce & Associates LP Has $45.30 Million Stock Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 73.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 652,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 276,889 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Exponent were worth $45,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 86.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Exponent

In other news, VP Joseph Sala sold 2,066 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.66, for a total value of $117,059.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,688,085.08. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,026 shares of company stock valued at $1,033,421. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of EXPO opened at $57.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87 and a beta of 0.78. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.91 and a 12 month high of $81.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.27.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 57.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EXPO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.50.

About Exponent

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.