Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $593,000 in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 21,143 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $593,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.11% of Simulations Plus at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Simulations Plus by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,226,262 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,090,000 after acquiring an additional 290,414 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Simulations Plus by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 419,241 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,693,000 after acquiring an additional 24,266 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 396,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,047,000 after purchasing an additional 70,526 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 371,797 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 134,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 289,286 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,068,000 after acquiring an additional 107,766 shares in the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simulations Plus Stock Down 0.8%

SLP stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.02. 150,697 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 208,874. The stock has a market cap of $603.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.05 and a beta of 1.10. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.01 and a fifty-two week high of $51.22. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $28.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.23.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The technology company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.06. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 10.97%. The business had revenue of $22.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Simulations Plus's revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SLP shares. StockNews.com raised Simulations Plus from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Simulations Plus from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Insider Transactions at Simulations Plus

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.51, for a total transaction of $670,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,344,157 shares in the company, valued at $112,062,701.07. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 19.40% of the company's stock.

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.