Exponent, Inc. $EXPO Shares Sold by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank decreased its position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 776 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Exponent were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EXPO. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Exponent by 10,200.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Exponent by 21.7% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exponent in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 8,092.9% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 1,133 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Exponent by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other news, CEO Catherine Corrigan sold 4,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total transaction of $329,422.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 82,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,529,555.46. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Sala sold 1,595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.64, for a total transaction of $112,670.80. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $1,133,059 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Exponent in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Exponent Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $71.22 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.88. Exponent, Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.81 and a 1-year high of $107.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.61 and a beta of 0.91.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $137.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.78 million. Exponent had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 24.19%. Exponent’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Exponent’s payout ratio is presently 58.54%.

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.