Rhumbline Advisers Sells 2,753 Shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,743 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,753 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.34% of Simulations Plus worth $3,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,426 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the fourth quarter valued at $337,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 931,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,668,000 after buying an additional 12,505 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 279,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,510,000 after buying an additional 87,516 shares during the period. Finally, Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Simulations Plus during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,156,000. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Simulations Plus stock opened at $31.89 on Wednesday. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.75 and a fifty-two week high of $51.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.83. The company has a market capitalization of $638.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.44 and a beta of 0.70.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 2nd. The technology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.04. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 14.36%. The company had revenue of $18.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simulations Plus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Simulations Plus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $703,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,501,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,186,006.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 750 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total transaction of $36,990.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $345,683.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $703,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,501,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,186,006.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,750 shares of company stock worth $2,467,390 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Simulations Plus in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Simulations Plus in a research report on Monday, July 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Simulations Plus from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.