Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) COO Sells 6,619 Shares

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 6,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $567,115.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 99,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,490,545.28. This trade represents a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Blackbaud Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of BLKB traded down $2.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $84.00. 275,150 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 231,981. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.85. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.47 and a 1 year high of $88.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.96 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.08). Blackbaud had a return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $286.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to buyback $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLKB. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 99.4% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 3,128 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Blackbaud by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Blackbaud during the 1st quarter valued at about $720,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 10.1% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,847 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 22.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. 94.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BLKB shares. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James cut their target price on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.67.

About Blackbaud

Blackbaud, Inc provides cloud software solutions to nonprofits, foundations, education institutions, and healthcare organizations in the United States and internationally. The company offers fundraising and engagement solutions, such as Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT, Blackbaud CRM, Blackbaud eTapestry, Blackbaud Luminate Online, Blackbaud TeamRaiser, JustGiving, Blackbaud Fundraiser Performance Management, Blackbaud Guided Fundraising, and Blackbaud Altru; and financial management solutions comprising Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, Blackbaud Tuition Management, and Blackbaud Financial Aid and Billing Management.