Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,227 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Simulations Plus by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,135,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,710,000 after buying an additional 12,636 shares during the period. Ranger Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Simulations Plus by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 931,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,668,000 after buying an additional 12,505 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in Simulations Plus by 36.5% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 381,693 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,707,000 after purchasing an additional 102,135 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Simulations Plus by 3.2% during 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Simulations Plus by 5.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 222,317 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,809,000 after purchasing an additional 11,048 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

SLP stock opened at $32.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $650.33 million, a PE ratio of 67.71 and a beta of 0.70. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a one year low of $32.22 and a one year high of $51.22. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.96.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 2nd. The technology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $18.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.92 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Simulations Plus Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 7,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $345,683.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $703,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,501,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,186,006.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 750 shares of Simulations Plus stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total value of $36,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $345,683.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,750 shares of company stock worth $2,467,390. Corporate insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.

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.