NFJ Investment Group LLC Invests $1.25 Million in Simulations Plus, Inc. $SLP

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired 51,162 shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. valued at approximately $1,254,000, representing about 0.25% ownership of the company.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds hold a significant majority of Simulations Plus, with a combined ownership of 78.08%.
• Analyst ratings for Simulations Plus show varying outlooks, with price targets ranging from $20.00 to $36.00, while the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $26.50.

NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 51,162 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned 0.25% of Simulations Plus at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,575 shares of the technology company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 15.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,576 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Simulations Plus during the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Simulations Plus by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,493 shares of the technology company's stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLP has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Simulations Plus from $41.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Simulations Plus to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Simulations Plus from $28.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Simulations Plus has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.50.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

SLP traded up $0.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $14.41. 178,204 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 430,349. The company has a market cap of $289.97 million, a P/E ratio of -4.57 and a beta of 0.85. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.39 and a 12-month high of $37.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.93.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The technology company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $20.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.83 million. Simulations Plus had a negative net margin of 78.63% and a positive return on equity of 11.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.