Renaissance Technologies LLC Boosts Holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP - Free Report) by 46.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,100 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.22% of Simulations Plus worth $1,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 41,161 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 5,704 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 7,310 shares of the technology company's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 210.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 147,154 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 99,789 shares during the period. Summitry LLC bought a new position in Simulations Plus during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,385,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Simulations Plus in the 4th quarter worth about $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.08% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.51, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 19.40% of the company's stock.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLP traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $33.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,773. The business's fifty day moving average is $28.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.34. The stock has a market cap of $667.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.48 and a beta of 1.13. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.01 and a 1 year high of $51.22.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Simulations Plus from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Simulations Plus from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.00.

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.