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

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 618,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,131,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.22% of Exponent at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Exponent by 129.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Exponent in the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Exponent by 127.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In other Exponent news, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,736 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.93, for a total transaction of $149,174.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,800 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Exponent Trading Down 1.7 %

EXPO stock opened at $84.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $89.04 and its 200 day moving average is $98.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.67 and a beta of 0.77. Exponent, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.21 and a 1-year high of $115.75.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. Exponent had a net margin of 19.52% and a return on equity of 27.27%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

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

Exponent Company 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.