KeyCorp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Stock

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) had its target price boosted by analysts at KeyCorp from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.53% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on SLP. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research decreased their target price on Simulations Plus from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. One investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simulations Plus currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.40.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

NASDAQ SLP opened at $33.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.84. Simulations Plus has a one year low of $24.00 and a one year high of $51.22. The firm has a market cap of $678.64 million, a PE ratio of 84.45 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Insider Activity at Simulations Plus

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.66, for a total value of $553,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,462,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,775,073.44. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 19.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Simulations Plus

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Simulations Plus by 82.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 818 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in Simulations Plus by 1,100.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Simulations Plus in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 37.0% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,974 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.