Values First Advisors Inc. Invests $1.86 Million in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 41,602 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,000. Simulations Plus makes up approximately 1.1% of Values First Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Values First Advisors Inc. owned 0.21% of Simulations Plus at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLP. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 2,626.1% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 627 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus in the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 194.5% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Simulations Plus from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLP traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.15. 69,064 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 99,376. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.69 and a 52-week high of $52.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.44. The company has a market capitalization of $821.77 million, a PE ratio of 77.64 and a beta of 0.73.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 3rd. The technology company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.10. The firm had revenue of $14.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 17.12% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.67 EPS for the current year.

Simulations Plus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 29th were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 26th. Simulations Plus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Kenneth Paglia sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.74, for a total value of $43,740.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,722.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director John Kenneth Paglia sold 1,000 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.74, for a total transaction of $43,740.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,722.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 18,945 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total value of $720,288.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,641,250 shares in the company, valued at $138,440,325. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,945 shares of company stock valued at $1,653,229. 20.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.