Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,878 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,956 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.87% of Simulations Plus worth $7,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SLP. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Simulations Plus in the fourth quarter worth $1,862,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Simulations Plus during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,190,000. Kopion Asset Management LLC grew its position in Simulations Plus by 145.0% during the 4th quarter. Kopion Asset Management LLC now owns 122,709 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,491,000 after acquiring an additional 72,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Simulations Plus in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,094,000. 78.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Simulations Plus Stock Performance

Shares of Simulations Plus stock opened at $48.54 on Wednesday. Simulations Plus, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.69 and a 52-week high of $52.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $970.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.58 and a beta of 0.68.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $18.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.31 million. Simulations Plus had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Simulations Plus, Inc. will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simulations Plus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Simulations Plus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.28%.

Insider Activity at Simulations Plus

In related 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 value of $798,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,600,195 shares in the company, valued at $143,791,788.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 20.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.