Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.67.

Several brokerages have recently commented on BLKB. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James decreased their target price on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird cut 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. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLKB opened at $87.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.75 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.19. Blackbaud has a twelve month low of $66.47 and a twelve month high of $88.95.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.08). The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackbaud will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 10,000 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total value of $848,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 140,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,230.70. The trade was a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 12,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $1,026,056.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 389,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,429,121.75. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,390 shares of company stock worth $6,369,938. 1.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackbaud during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 2,950.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew 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. increased its holdings in Blackbaud by 190.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Blackbaud in the third quarter worth approximately $142,000. Institutional investors own 94.21% 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.