Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on BLKB. Evercore ISI raised Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Blackbaud Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLKB opened at $77.72 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $83.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.55. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 76.20 and a beta of 1.03. Blackbaud has a twelve month low of $66.47 and a twelve month high of $88.56.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $286.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.74 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 4.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Blackbaud will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to buyback $800.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackbaud news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 3,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $280,673.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,025 shares in the company, valued at $2,027,347.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 3,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $280,673.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,025 shares in the company, valued at $2,027,347.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin Mcdearis sold 2,261 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.12, for a total value of $192,456.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,129 shares in the company, valued at $5,118,180.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,409 shares of company stock worth $4,179,193 in the last three months. 1.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackbaud

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 264,816 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,633,000 after buying an additional 12,881 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Blackbaud by 306.3% in the first 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 during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Blackbaud by 46.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 58,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,306,000 after acquiring an additional 18,335 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its holdings in Blackbaud by 22.5% in the first quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.