JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP - Free Report) by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,365 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,371 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.24% of Simulations Plus worth $1,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLP. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Simulations Plus by 82.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 818 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,391 shares of the technology company's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,599 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Simulations Plus by 7.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,797 shares of the technology company's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Simulations Plus by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,813 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,665,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SLP shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Simulations Plus from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens started coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on Simulations Plus from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Simulations Plus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.40.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLP traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.78. The stock had a trading volume of 223,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 363,497. The stock has a market cap of $678.71 million, a P/E ratio of 84.45 and a beta of 0.80. The business's 50 day moving average is $29.95 and its 200 day moving average is $32.89. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.00 and a fifty-two week high of $51.22.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $18.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.73 million. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 10.97%. Simulations Plus's quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simulations Plus

In related news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total transaction of $635,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,442,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,336,467.84. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 19.40% 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.