Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 206,437 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 145,931 shares.The stock last traded at $77.49 and had previously closed at $78.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLKB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird cut Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Baird R W lowered Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 74.77 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blackbaud

In other news, Director Sarah E. Nash sold 1,600 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total value of $133,536.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,846,385.58. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 12,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $1,026,056.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 389,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,429,121.75. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,923 shares of company stock worth $3,737,450 over the last three months. 1.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackbaud

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Blackbaud by 3.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 22.5% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,283,473 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $108,684,000 after acquiring an additional 235,859 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,175,493 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,541,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Blackbaud by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,036,467 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,949,000 after purchasing an additional 8,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 429,051 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,332,000 after purchasing an additional 154,019 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.