Sapient Capital LLC Takes Position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 5,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Exponent during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Exponent during the first quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exponent by 157.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 915 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EXPO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Exponent from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Exponent from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Guyer sold 3,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.49, for a total value of $264,275.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $78.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20 and a beta of 0.68. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.61 and a fifty-two week high of $101.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.32.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.03). Exponent had a net margin of 18.69% and a return on equity of 28.49%. The business had revenue of $113.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.44%.

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.