California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,910 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,842 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of Exponent worth $8,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exponent by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,345,503 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $476,284,000 after buying an additional 67,296 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Exponent by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,840,313 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $212,151,000 after purchasing an additional 13,644 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Exponent by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,505,652 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $173,597,000 after purchasing an additional 69,099 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Exponent by 63.6% in 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, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exponent in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,131,000. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exponent Trading Up 1.7 %

EXPO traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.32. 307,072 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 242,311. Exponent, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.83 and a 12-month high of $115.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.53 and a 200 day moving average of $93.26.

Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Exponent, Inc. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exponent

In related news, VP Richard Reiss sold 1,736 shares of the company's 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,674. This represents a 49.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is 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.