Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $88.95 and last traded at $88.28, with a volume of 103550 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLKB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Blackbaud Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 86.15 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.12.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $286.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.74 million. Blackbaud had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 20.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $800.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Blackbaud news, EVP Kevin Mcdearis sold 18,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $1,576,668.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,561,996. This represents a 22.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 6,619 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $567,115.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 99,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,490,545.28. The trade was a 6.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,911 shares of company stock valued at $4,686,054 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackbaud during the second quarter worth $33,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackbaud by 190.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Blackbaud in the 3rd quarter worth about $142,000. 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.