Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,019,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,108 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.01% of Exponent worth $96,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EXPO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Exponent during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,786,000. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 76,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,741,000 after purchasing an additional 22,410 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Exponent by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Exponent by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Exponent during the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

EXPO stock opened at $112.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.21. Exponent, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.61 and a 52-week high of $113.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.96 and a beta of 0.66.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.07. Exponent had a return on equity of 28.39% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $132.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Pye sold 3,956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $415,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 28,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,984,310. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Exponent in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

About Exponent

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.