Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $55.13 Million Position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 618,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,131,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 219.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,127,000 after purchasing an additional 66,263 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $183,388,000 after purchasing an additional 27,339 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 223.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 63.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,701,000 after purchasing an additional 245,086 shares during the period. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 28,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXPO opened at $84.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 39.67 and a beta of 0.77. Exponent, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.21 and a fifty-two week high of $115.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.02.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. Exponent had a return on equity of 27.27% and a net margin of 19.52%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.93, for a total value of $149,174.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,674. This trade represents a 49.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.