Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Upgraded by Stephens to Strong-Buy Rating

Stephens upgraded shares of Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Simulations Plus in a research note on Monday, July 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.40.

Simulations Plus Stock Down 3.2 %

SLP stock opened at $28.77 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.88. The company has a market cap of $577.41 million, a PE ratio of 58.72 and a beta of 0.71. Simulations Plus has a twelve month low of $27.22 and a twelve month high of $51.22.

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

Insider Activity

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $703,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,501,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,186,006.56. The trade was a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 60,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,905,655 over the last 90 days. 20.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simulations Plus

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,135,105 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,710,000 after purchasing an additional 12,636 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 4.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,303 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,503,000 after purchasing an additional 28,953 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Simulations Plus by 4.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Simulations Plus by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 414,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,128,000 after acquiring an additional 37,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Simulations Plus by 54.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 325,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,425,000 after acquiring an additional 115,122 shares during the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.