Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at William Blair

William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on SLP. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Simulations Plus from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Craig Hallum increased their target price on Simulations Plus from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th.

Simulations Plus Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of SLP opened at $48.62 on Friday. Simulations Plus has a 12-month low of $32.69 and a 12-month high of $52.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $971.91 million, a PE ratio of 91.74 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.06.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.02. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $18.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Simulations Plus Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Simulations Plus’s payout ratio is 45.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simulations Plus

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.31, for a total value of $157,007.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,147.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.95, for a total transaction of $919,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,580,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,540,379.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.31, for a total value of $157,007.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $423,147.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,899,808. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simulations Plus

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLP. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the first quarter worth about $57,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the first quarter worth about $70,000. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the first quarter worth about $204,000. Canton Hathaway LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the first quarter worth about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

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.