Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Raised to Strong-Buy at Stephens

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) was upgraded by equities researchers at Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp began coverage on Simulations Plus in a report on Monday, July 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Simulations Plus from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.40.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Shares of SLP opened at $28.77 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.04. The company has a market capitalization of $577.41 million, a PE ratio of 58.72 and a beta of 0.71. Simulations Plus has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $51.22.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $18.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.73 million. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 14.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Simulations Plus will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simulations Plus

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.26, for a total value of $625,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,481,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,834,565.92. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 60,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,905,655 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simulations Plus

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 8,007 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 1.1% during the second quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 31,665 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 82.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 818 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 1.3% during the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 34,554 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 7.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

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.