Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Shares Up 5.4% After Strong Earnings

Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)’s stock price was up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $26.03 and last traded at $25.11. Approximately 81,885 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 174,864 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.82.

The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $22.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.93 million. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 10.97%. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SLP shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Simulations Plus from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Simulations Plus from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total transaction of $678,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,402,584 shares in the company, valued at $115,381,623.44. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 19.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLP. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,223 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Simulations Plus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus during the third quarter worth $59,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,575 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 502.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,689 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $515.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.29.

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.