Pitcairn Co. Boosts Position in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Pitcairn Co. raised its stake in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,599 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Simulations Plus were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 1.1% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 10.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 414,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,128,000 after purchasing an additional 37,992 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Simulations Plus by 54.7% during the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 325,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,425,000 after purchasing an additional 115,122 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 237,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,602,000 after purchasing an additional 53,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 5.2% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other Simulations Plus news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.26, for a total value of $625,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,481,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,834,565.92. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 60,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,905,655 in the last three months. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Shares of Simulations Plus stock opened at $31.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $638.63 million, a P/E ratio of 64.94 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.90. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a one year low of $27.07 and a one year high of $51.22.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The firm had revenue of $18.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.