Stifel Nicolaus Increases Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Price Target to $85.00

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) had its price objective upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Blackbaud to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Blackbaud Price Performance

NASDAQ BLKB opened at $84.10 on Thursday. Blackbaud has a 12 month low of $64.32 and a 12 month high of $88.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 205.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.73.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $287.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.26 million. Blackbaud had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 18.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackbaud will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to buyback $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,251,728. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Blackbaud news, Director Sarah E. Nash sold 3,220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $245,299.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,043,376.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,628 shares in the company, valued at $2,251,728. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,409 shares of company stock valued at $4,483,193 in the last three months. 1.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackbaud

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLKB. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 2,950.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 303.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 734 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares in the last quarter. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.