Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 1,492 Shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,912 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackbaud were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLKB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Blackbaud by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 388,009 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,768,000 after purchasing an additional 10,555 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackbaud by 1,107.5% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 33,908 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after acquiring an additional 31,100 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackbaud during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,262,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackbaud in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,081,000. Finally, Kestrel Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Blackbaud in the second quarter worth $4,795,000. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, EVP Kevin Mcdearis sold 18,996 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.00, for a total transaction of $1,576,668.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,561,996. This trade represents a 22.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $66,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 373,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,039,312.95. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,390 shares of company stock worth $6,369,938. Company insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird cut 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. Baird R W lowered Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackbaud currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

Shares of BLKB opened at $87.47 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average of $83.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.19. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.75 and a beta of 1.03. Blackbaud, Inc. has a one year low of $66.47 and a one year high of $88.95.

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

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $800.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.