Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $432,000 Investment in Exponent, Inc. $EXPO

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Exponent by 87,479.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 230,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,999,000 after purchasing an additional 230,072 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Exponent by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 176,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,253,000 after acquiring an additional 40,359 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,392,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,183,000 after purchasing an additional 31,303 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Exponent by 114.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 36,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 19,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Exponent by 785.8% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 24,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after purchasing an additional 21,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EXPO shares. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on Exponent and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Exponent from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exponent presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exponent news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,119 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $235,318.47. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 106,670 shares in the company, valued at $6,094,057.10. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of EXPO opened at $71.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.68. Exponent, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.91 and a 1 year high of $81.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.53.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.61%.

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.