Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,129 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Exponent were worth $2,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Exponent during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exponent in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 127.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exponent Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of EXPO stock opened at $82.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.35. Exponent, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.27 and a twelve month high of $115.75.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Exponent Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Exponent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Exponent’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.60%.

Insider Activity at Exponent

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