Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Sells $835,384.27 in Stock

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 9,479 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.13, for a total transaction of $835,384.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 344,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,323,682.27. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Blackbaud Trading Up 0.6 %

BLKB traded up $0.49 during trading on Monday, hitting $87.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 354,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,959. Blackbaud, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.47 and a twelve month high of $88.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick 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.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted 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). 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to repurchase $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Blackbaud by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,152 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Blackbaud by 6.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 2.1% during the second quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 11,164 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackbaud by 6.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BLKB shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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 research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.67.

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.