Insider Selling: Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Sells 9,479 Shares of Stock

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 9,479 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.13, for a total transaction of $835,384.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 344,079 shares in the company, valued at $30,323,682.27. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Blackbaud Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of BLKB stock opened at $86.41 on Wednesday. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.47 and a 12 month high of $88.95. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 84.72 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.65 and a 200-day moving average of $80.19.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.08). Blackbaud had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 20.34%. The company had revenue of $286.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Blackbaud’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Blackbaud announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackbaud

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackbaud by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,646,203 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $418,609,000 after acquiring an additional 71,619 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 1.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,840,576 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $210,599,000 after buying an additional 53,057 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,647,284 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,492,000 after buying an additional 56,090 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Blackbaud by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,283,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,684,000 after buying an additional 235,859 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,175,493 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,541,000 after buying an additional 4,122 shares in the last quarter. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by 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.