Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Simulations Plus from "Buy" to "Hold," and several other firms have moved ratings toward Hold/Neutral; the consensus analyst rating is Hold with an average price target of $25.00.
• The company missed quarterly EPS ($0.13 vs. $0.18 expected) while revenue slightly beat at $18.42M, and it reported a deeply negative net margin (-81.66%) despite a positive return on equity (14.02%).
• Shares traded around $11.99 with a market cap of about $241.6M, and institutional investors hold roughly 78.08% of the stock after several funds substantially increased their positions.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on SLP. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Simulations Plus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Simulations Plus from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.00.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

Shares of Simulations Plus stock opened at $11.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $241.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.75 and a beta of 1.19. Simulations Plus has a twelve month low of $11.09 and a twelve month high of $36.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $13.06 and its 200 day moving average is $16.06.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The technology company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $18.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.05 million. Simulations Plus had a positive return on equity of 14.02% and a negative net margin of 81.66%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simulations Plus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Simulations Plus by 156.4% during the fourth quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 1,968,917 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,157 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Simulations Plus by 214.7% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,136,980 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $17,134,000 after buying an additional 775,704 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 875,447 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,277,000 after buying an additional 176,747 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 127.5% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 569,783 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,387,000 after buying an additional 319,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 513,728 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,365,000 after buying an additional 120,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.08% of the company's stock.

Simulations Plus Company Profile

Simulations Plus, Inc NASDAQ: SLP specializes in advanced modeling and simulation software tailored to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries. The company's flagship products include ADMET Predictor, a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) tool for predicting absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity properties, and GastroPlus, a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling platform for simulating drug absorption and pharmacokinetics.

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