Semanteon Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 13,774 Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,213,000. Exponent accounts for 0.8% of Semanteon Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,884,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exponent by 1,092.5% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 6,828 shares during the period. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Exponent in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,091,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Exponent by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 484,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,472,000 after purchasing an additional 10,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Exponent by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 40,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Exponent Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPO traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $79.68. 473,229 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,890. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.86 and a beta of 0.68. Exponent, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $101.65.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $113.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.11 million. Exponent had a return on equity of 28.49% and a net margin of 18.69%. Exponent’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is 57.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exponent news, insider Eric Guyer sold 3,367 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.