Catherine Corrigan Sells 4,194 Shares of Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) Stock

Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Catherine Corrigan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 16th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,912 shares of Exponent stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.49, for a total value of $264,020.88.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,909 shares of Exponent stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.70, for a total value of $264,639.30.
• On Tuesday, February 17th, Catherine Corrigan sold 3,920 shares of Exponent stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.15, for a total value of $263,228.00.

Exponent Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $53.79 on Friday. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.91 and a fifty-two week high of $81.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 0.78.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.94% and a net margin of 18.07%.The company had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 57.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exponent

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPO. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Exponent in the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 1,481.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 119,175 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Exponent by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 554,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,444,000 after purchasing an additional 17,930 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Exponent in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,377,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Exponent by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EXPO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target on Exponent from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Exponent from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Exponent presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Exponent Company Profile

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.