Wasatch Advisors LP Buys 87,516 Shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 45.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 279,558 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,516 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Simulations Plus were worth $12,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Simulations Plus by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,259,176 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $101,098,000 after acquiring an additional 251,299 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simulations Plus by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,118,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,657,000 after purchasing an additional 5,009 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 12,505 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Simulations Plus by 1.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 469,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,597,000 after purchasing an additional 5,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Simulations Plus in the 4th quarter worth about $9,190,000. Institutional investors own 78.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.31, for a total transaction of $157,007.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,147.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Walter S. Woltosz sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel L. Weiner sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 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.

Simulations Plus Stock Down 1.5 %

SLP stock traded down $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,096. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a one year low of $32.69 and a one year high of $52.69. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.29. The company has a market capitalization of $915.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.66 and a beta of 0.75.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) last issued 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 business had revenue of $18.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simulations Plus Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Simulations Plus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.28%.

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.