Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Trading Up 5.4% on Strong Earnings

Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)’s share price shot up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $26.03 and last traded at $25.11. 81,885 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 174,864 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.82.

The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.06. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 10.97%. The company had revenue of $22.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. Simulations Plus’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLP. StockNews.com raised Simulations Plus from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Simulations Plus from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simulations Plus currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total value of $678,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,402,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,381,623.44. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 19.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Simulations Plus

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in Simulations Plus by 390.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 22,669 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus in the fourth quarter worth $719,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 4.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 448,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,367,000 after acquiring an additional 18,924 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,503,000 after purchasing an additional 28,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 106.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 47,365 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 24,371 shares during the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simulations Plus Trading Up 7.8 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.03 and its 200-day moving average is $30.28. The company has a market cap of $515.96 million, a P/E ratio of 64.20 and a beta of 0.89.

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.