Empirical Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 30.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Exponent were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 5,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 3,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 10,200.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Exponent stock opened at $67.50 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.81 and a twelve month high of $113.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75 and a beta of 0.91.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Exponent had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 18.35%.The firm had revenue of $132.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Exponent’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of Exponent 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 82,753 shares in the company, valued at $5,529,555.46. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total value of $112,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $1,133,059. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.