Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 448,618 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,924 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Simulations Plus were worth $14,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SLP. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Simulations Plus by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 222,317 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,809,000 after purchasing an additional 11,048 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in Simulations Plus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Simulations Plus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Simulations Plus by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 18,025 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Simulations Plus by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. 78.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SLP shares. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Simulations Plus from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Simulations Plus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Simulations Plus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total value of $635,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,442,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,336,467.84. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Simulations Plus Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SLP opened at $27.94 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.82. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.07 and a twelve month high of $51.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $561.17 million, a PE ratio of 57.02 and a beta of 0.76.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $18.70 million for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. Analysts expect that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share 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.