Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $876,000 Stake in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,025 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. owned 0.09% of Simulations Plus worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Simulations Plus in the first quarter valued at $70,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Simulations Plus in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the 2nd quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

SLP stock opened at $32.81 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $656.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.35 and a beta of 0.70. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.53 and a fifty-two week high of $51.22.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 2nd. The technology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.04. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The business had revenue of $18.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Simulations Plus Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Simulations Plus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simulations Plus

In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.71, for a total transaction of $934,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,540,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165,393,430.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 750 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total value of $36,990.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $345,683.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.71, for a total value of $934,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,540,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165,393,430.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,750 shares of company stock valued at $2,467,390 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SLP shares. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Simulations Plus in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Simulations Plus in a report on Monday, July 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Simulations Plus in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Simulations Plus from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Simulations Plus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Simulations Plus 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.