Craig Hallum Boosts Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) Price Target to $56.00

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) had its price target boosted by Craig Hallum from $51.00 to $56.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Separately, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Simulations Plus from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday.

Simulations Plus Price Performance

SLP stock opened at $46.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $932.50 million, a PE ratio of 88.04 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $47.60 and its 200-day moving average is $43.50. Simulations Plus has a 1 year low of $32.69 and a 1 year high of $52.69.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.02. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $18.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Simulations Plus will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simulations Plus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Simulations Plus’s payout ratio is 45.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simulations Plus

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $798,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,600,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,791,788.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,791,788.30. The transaction 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 Simulations Plus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.31, for a total transaction of $157,007.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,147.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,899,808 in the last three months. Company insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Simulations Plus

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connective Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Simulations Plus in the first quarter worth $364,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Simulations Plus by 3.2% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 229,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,441,000 after purchasing an additional 7,077 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Simulations Plus in the first quarter worth $4,717,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Simulations Plus in the first quarter valued at about $1,082,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 5.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,048 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.