Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $64.05 and traded as high as $70.94. Exponent shares last traded at $70.67, with a volume of 516,863 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EXPO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Exponent from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Exponent and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exponent has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Exponent Trading Down 0.2%

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.24 and its 200 day moving average is $64.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.69.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Exponent had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 31.48%. The company had revenue of $171.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 1,707 shares of Exponent stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.28, for a total transaction of $113,139.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,108 shares in the company, valued at $8,557,278.24. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the second quarter valued at $363,428,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Exponent during the second quarter worth about $29,270,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Exponent during the second quarter worth about $24,442,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in Exponent during the second quarter worth about $21,406,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Exponent by 4,466.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 280,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,312,000 after buying an additional 274,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

About Exponent

Exponent, Inc is an engineering and scientific consulting company that helps clients investigate complex technical issues, manage risk, and improve the safety and performance of products, systems, and structures. Its multidisciplinary consulting services support legal, insurance, industrial, government, and other organizational clients.

The company’s services include failure analysis, accident reconstruction, product safety and testing, materials and corrosion analysis, environmental and human health assessments, biomechanics, human factors, electrical and electronic systems analysis, civil and structural engineering, and data sciences.