Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Simulations Plus from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Monday, July 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.40.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

SLP stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.77. 231,167 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 134,624. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.93. The company has a market cap of $577.41 million, a P/E ratio of 58.72 and a beta of 0.71. Simulations Plus has a 52-week low of $27.22 and a 52-week high of $51.22.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $18.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.73 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The company’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Simulations Plus will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Simulations Plus

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.66, for a total transaction of $553,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,462,584 shares in the company, valued at $95,775,073.44. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,750 shares of company stock worth $1,905,655. Company insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simulations Plus

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLP. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Simulations Plus by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 8,007 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 31,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 82.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 818 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. increased its position in Simulations Plus by 1.3% in the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 34,554 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,680,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Simulations Plus

Simulations Plus, Inc develops drug discovery and development software for modeling and simulation, and prediction of molecular properties utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning based technology worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Software and Services. It offers GastroPlus, which simulates the absorption and drug interaction of compounds administered to humans and animals; and DDDPlus and MembranePlus simulation products.