Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Friday.

SLP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Simulations Plus from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.40.

Simulations Plus Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of SLP stock traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.26. 82,385 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,588. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.46 and a 200 day moving average of $30.13. Simulations Plus has a 1 year low of $22.81 and a 1 year high of $51.22. The firm has a market cap of $507.60 million, a PE ratio of 63.84 and a beta of 1.13.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $22.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. The company's revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Simulations Plus will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Simulations Plus

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 19.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simulations Plus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,223 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Simulations Plus in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 42.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. 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.