Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Stock Price Up 5.4% Following Earnings Beat

Shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) shot up 5.4% during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $26.03 and last traded at $25.11. 81,885 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $22.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.93 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 6.84%. The company’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Simulations Plus from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Simulations Plus from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Simulations Plus currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.91, for a total value of $678,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,402,584 shares in the company, valued at $115,381,623.44. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 19.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simulations Plus

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLP. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 41,692 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 15,399 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 200.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 44,841 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 29,929 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Simulations Plus by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,103 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Simulations Plus by 7,753.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 542,899 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,141,000 after acquiring an additional 535,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Simulations Plus by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,916 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 5,160 shares during the period. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.29. The stock has a market cap of $515.96 million, a P/E ratio of 64.20 and a beta of 0.89.

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.