Short Interest in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Declines By 8.6%

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 559,200 shares, a decrease of 8.6% from the January 15th total of 611,600 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 200,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLKB. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Baird R W downgraded shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.67.

Insider Activity

In other Blackbaud news, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 9,479 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 344,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,323,682.27. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $848,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 140,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,901,230.70. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,279 shares of company stock valued at $1,750,404 over the last quarter. 1.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackbaud

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackbaud by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Blackbaud by 0.6% during the third 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 buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its position in shares of Blackbaud by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,985 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Blackbaud by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,864 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Blackbaud by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,612 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackbaud Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLKB opened at $73.42 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $77.07 and its 200 day moving average is $80.41. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.88 and a beta of 1.08. Blackbaud has a fifty-two week low of $66.47 and a fifty-two week high of $88.95.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.50). Blackbaud had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 20.34%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackbaud will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.