Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Position in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,727 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 545 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.06% of Simulations Plus worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,135,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,710,000 after purchasing an additional 12,636 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Simulations Plus by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 414,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,128,000 after acquiring an additional 37,992 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 325,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,425,000 after buying an additional 115,122 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 237,416 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,602,000 after buying an additional 53,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 222,317 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,809,000 after buying an additional 11,048 shares during the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Simulations Plus stock opened at $29.92 on Friday. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.07 and a fifty-two week high of $51.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.21. The company has a market capitalization of $600.49 million, a PE ratio of 61.06 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,481,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,834,565.92. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,750 shares of company stock worth $1,837,255. 20.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research cut their price objective on Simulations Plus from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens initiated coverage on Simulations Plus in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Simulations Plus has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.40.

Simulations Plus 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.