New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 5,000 Shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,620 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.33% of Blackbaud worth $14,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLKB. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,195,891 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $88,663,000 after acquiring an additional 135,103 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,646,203 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $418,609,000 after purchasing an additional 71,619 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 306.3% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 86,747 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,245,000 after purchasing an additional 65,395 shares during the period. Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Blackbaud in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,795,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 2,240.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 63,411 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,830,000 after purchasing an additional 60,702 shares during the period. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on BLKB shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Baird R W cut Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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, Robert W. Baird cut Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackbaud currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BLKB opened at $77.77 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.55. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.47 and a 1 year high of $88.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.24 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.08). Blackbaud had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 20.34%. The company had revenue of $286.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to repurchase $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Blackbaud

In related news, Director Sarah E. Nash sold 3,220 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $245,299.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,376.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Sarah E. Nash sold 3,220 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $245,299.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,376.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 7,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $569,407.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 110,715 shares in the company, valued at $8,597,019.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,409 shares of company stock worth $4,179,193. Company insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

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.