Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Sets New 1-Year Low at $32.30

Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) shares reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $32.30 and last traded at $32.30, with a volume of 7651 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLP has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Monday, July 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Simulations Plus in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JMP Securities started coverage on Simulations Plus in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Simulations Plus from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Simulations Plus in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $650.33 million, a P/E ratio of 67.71 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.95.

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

Simulations Plus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Simulations Plus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Simulations Plus

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 7.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new stake in Simulations Plus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $811,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Simulations Plus by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 35,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Simulations Plus by 10.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 414,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,128,000 after buying an additional 37,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 1.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,813 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. 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.