Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Shares Gap Up to $47.88

Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $47.88, but opened at $49.32. Simulations Plus shares last traded at $48.71, with a volume of 7,683 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SLP. William Blair started coverage on Simulations Plus in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on Simulations Plus from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Simulations Plus from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.09. The company has a market capitalization of $971.67 million, a PE ratio of 91.74 and a beta of 0.75.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.02. Simulations Plus had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $18.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simulations Plus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Simulations Plus’s payout ratio is currently 45.28%.

Insider Activity at Simulations Plus

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.31, for a total transaction of $157,007.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at $423,147.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $798,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,600,195 shares in the company, valued at $143,791,788.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.31, for a total value of $157,007.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,147.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,750 shares of company stock worth $1,899,808. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLP. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Simulations Plus in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Simulations Plus in the first quarter valued at about $70,000. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Simulations Plus in the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Simulations Plus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC lifted its holdings in Simulations Plus by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

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.