Short Interest in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Drops By 8.4%

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 604,300 shares, a drop of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 659,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 186,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Blackbaud Stock Down 0.3 %

Blackbaud stock opened at $86.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 210.59 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.83. Blackbaud has a twelve month low of $64.32 and a twelve month high of $88.56.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $287.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.26 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 18.54% and a net margin of 3.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Blackbaud will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to buyback $800.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $170,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,042,125. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackbaud news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $170,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 24,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,042,125. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 4,000 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $304,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,251,728. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,409 shares of company stock valued at $4,483,193 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackbaud

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackbaud by 12.7% in the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,195,891 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $88,663,000 after purchasing an additional 135,103 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Blackbaud by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 456,432 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,573,000 after purchasing an additional 77,348 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackbaud by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,646,203 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $418,609,000 after buying an additional 71,619 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Blackbaud by 306.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 86,747 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after buying an additional 65,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Blackbaud by 28.9% in the first quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 289,989 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,500,000 after buying an additional 64,960 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLKB. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI raised Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackbaud currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.67.

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.