Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Upgraded to "Hold" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SLP. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Simulations Plus from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Shares of SLP traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $33.32. 273,412 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 202,950. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $28.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.37. Simulations Plus has a 12-month low of $23.01 and a 12-month high of $51.22. The company has a market cap of $670.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.30 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.51, for a total transaction of $670,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,344,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at $112,062,701.07. This represents a 0.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Simulations Plus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Simulations Plus by 17.2% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,609,388 shares of the technology company's stock worth $63,982,000 after acquiring an additional 383,126 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 607,902 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,954,000 after purchasing an additional 86,868 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Simulations Plus by 7,753.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 542,899 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,141,000 after buying an additional 535,986 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 4.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 448,618 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,367,000 after buying an additional 18,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 24,266 shares during the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simulations Plus Company 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.