Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $88.95 and last traded at $88.28, with a volume of 103550 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reduced their target price on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackbaud presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Up 0.6 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 86.15 and a beta of 1.03.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.08). Blackbaud had a return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 4.61%. The firm had revenue of $286.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackbaud declared that its board has approved a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackbaud news, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 6,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total value of $567,115.92. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin Mcdearis sold 18,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $1,576,668.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,561,996. This trade represents a 22.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,911 shares of company stock worth $4,686,054 in the last 90 days. 1.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackbaud by 2,950.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Blackbaud by 42.0% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 190.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackbaud in the 3rd quarter worth about $142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Blackbaud Company Profile

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.