Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 668,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 37,176 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Exponent were worth $46,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EXPO. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the third quarter valued at about $29,780,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 135.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 580,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,308,000 after purchasing an additional 334,154 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 87,479.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 230,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,999,000 after buying an additional 230,072 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 49.9% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 501,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,448,000 after buying an additional 166,930 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 1,481.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after buying an additional 119,175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Joseph Rakow sold 2,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.66, for a total transaction of $160,973.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total transaction of $226,727.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 105,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,688,085.08. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,026 shares of company stock valued at $1,033,421. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of EXPO opened at $57.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.69. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.91 and a 1 year high of $81.95.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.53 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 27.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given 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 2.2%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is 57.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EXPO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.