JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stake in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,365 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,371 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.24% of Simulations Plus worth $1,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SLP. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 818 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Simulations Plus by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in Simulations Plus by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Simulations Plus by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,797 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Simulations Plus by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

SLP stock opened at $33.50 on Friday. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a one year low of $24.00 and a one year high of $51.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.93. The company has a market capitalization of $673.02 million, a PE ratio of 83.75 and a beta of 0.80.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $18.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.73 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 6.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Simulations Plus from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insider Activity at Simulations Plus

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total value of $635,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,442,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,336,467.84. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 19.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.