Comerica Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. $SLP

Key Points

• Comerica Bank has increased its holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. by 16.6%, owning 193,990 shares valued at approximately $4.75 million.
• Simulations Plus reported earnings of $0.45 per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.26, but its revenue was below estimates at $20.36 million.
• Several hedge funds have also boosted their investments in Simulations Plus, resulting in institutional ownership of 78.08% of the company's stock.

Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 193,990 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,579 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.96% of Simulations Plus worth $4,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,485 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,575 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,576 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus during the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,103 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.08% of the company's stock.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

Shares of SLP stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $14.12. The company had a trading volume of 260,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 356,000. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.39 and a 12 month high of $37.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.48. The company has a market cap of $284.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.48 and a beta of 0.85.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The technology company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.19. Simulations Plus had a positive return on equity of 11.62% and a negative net margin of 78.63%.The company had revenue of $20.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SLP. Zacks Research upgraded Simulations Plus to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research cut their price target on Simulations Plus from $41.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Simulations Plus from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.50.

Simulations Plus Profile

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.