Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $25.74, but opened at $28.68. Simulations Plus shares last traded at $30.82, with a volume of 250,693 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SLP shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Simulations Plus from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simulations Plus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Simulations Plus Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm's fifty day moving average is $28.79 and its 200 day moving average is $30.06. The company has a market cap of $649.79 million, a PE ratio of 80.78 and a beta of 1.13.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.06. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 6.84%. The business had revenue of $22.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.93 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. The business's revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simulations Plus

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 transaction, the director now owns 3,402,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,381,623.44. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simulations Plus

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Simulations Plus by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,223 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Simulations Plus by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,485 shares of the technology company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Simulations Plus by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,575 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 502.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,689 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares during the period. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.