Congress Asset Management Co. MA Has $7.06 Million Stock Holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 34.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 171,490 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,129 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA owned about 0.86% of Simulations Plus worth $7,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SLP. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simulations Plus by 194.5% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC raised its position in Simulations Plus by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Omaha acquired a new position in shares of Simulations Plus during the fourth quarter valued at $337,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Simulations Plus in the fourth quarter valued at about $358,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simulations Plus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $335,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simulations Plus

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.95, for a total value of $919,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,580,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,540,379.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.95, for a total value of $919,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,580,857 shares in the company, valued at $164,540,379.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.31, for a total value of $157,007.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $423,147.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,899,808 in the last ninety days. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SLP shares. Craig Hallum increased their price target on Simulations Plus from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Simulations Plus from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th.

Simulations Plus Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of SLP stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 226,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,660. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a one year low of $32.69 and a one year high of $52.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.79. The company has a market cap of $962.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.85 and a beta of 0.75.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $18.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.31 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Simulations Plus Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Simulations Plus’s payout ratio is 45.28%.

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.