Royce & Associates LP Grows Stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,255 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.40% of Exponent worth $18,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,131,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Exponent by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,701,000 after purchasing an additional 245,086 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exponent by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,505,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,597,000 after purchasing an additional 69,099 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 219.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,127,000 after purchasing an additional 66,263 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 342,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,548,000 after purchasing an additional 62,760 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Exponent news, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.93, for a total value of $149,174.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,800 shares in the company, valued at $154,674. This trade represents a 49.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of EXPO stock opened at $82.73 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $88.54 and its 200 day moving average is $97.35. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02 and a beta of 0.77. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.27 and a 52-week high of $115.75.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.27% and a net margin of 19.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Exponent’s payout ratio is currently 56.60%.

Exponent Profile

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.