Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $35.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Simulations Plus traded as low as $26.51 and last traded at $26.51, with a volume of 24606 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.39.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on SLP. Stephens began coverage on Simulations Plus in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Simulations Plus from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total value of $635,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,442,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,336,467.84. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 19.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simulations Plus

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 4.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,503,000 after buying an additional 28,953 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Simulations Plus by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 448,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,367,000 after purchasing an additional 18,924 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Simulations Plus by 10.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 414,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,128,000 after purchasing an additional 37,992 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Simulations Plus by 54.7% during the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 325,567 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,425,000 after purchasing an additional 115,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 28.8% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 237,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,602,000 after purchasing an additional 53,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $558.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.74 and a beta of 0.80.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $18.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.73 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.