Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Michael P. Gianoni Sells 9,479 Shares of Stock

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

Blackbaud Stock Up 0.6 %

Blackbaud stock opened at $87.47 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.47 and a 1-year high of $88.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.19. The company has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.75 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 return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $286.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackbaud

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,646,203 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $418,609,000 after buying an additional 71,619 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackbaud in the 1st quarter valued at about $884,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 388,009 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,768,000 after acquiring an additional 10,555 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 100,422 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,445,000 after purchasing an additional 7,049 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 1,107.5% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 33,908 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLKB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James lowered their target price on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Baird R W lowered 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.67.

Blackbaud Company Profile

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.