Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO – Get Rating) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Exponent were worth $150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EXPO. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 332.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 433 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Exponent during the second quarter worth $40,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Exponent by 66.9% during the second quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Exponent during the third quarter worth $56,000. 91.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exponent Price Performance

Shares of EXPO opened at $99.00 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.37. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.97 and a 12-month high of $112.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 52.11 and a beta of 0.64.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $115.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.00 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.40% and a net margin of 20.06%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 9th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 8th. Exponent’s payout ratio is 50.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Exponent in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Exponent in a research note on Tuesday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other Exponent news, VP Bradley A. James sold 575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.21, for a total value of $55,320.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,186 shares in the company, valued at $595,155.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Exponent

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Exponent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a science and engineering consulting company worldwide. It 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.