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

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

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SLP. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BTIG Research decreased their target price 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. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Monday, July 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.40.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Shares of Simulations Plus stock opened at $28.77 on Thursday. Simulations Plus has a 1 year low of $27.22 and a 1 year high of $51.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.88. The firm has a market cap of $577.41 million, a PE ratio of 58.72 and a beta of 0.71.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $18.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.73 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Simulations Plus will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.26, for a total transaction of $625,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,481,592 shares in the company, valued at $108,834,565.92. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,750 shares of company stock worth $1,905,655. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simulations Plus

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLP. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Simulations Plus by 4.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 448,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,367,000 after purchasing an additional 18,924 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Simulations Plus by 390.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 22,669 shares during the period. First National Bank of Omaha increased its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 56.1% in the third quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 9,704 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 4.7% during 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, Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new stake in Simulations Plus during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $682,000. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.