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

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 9,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 344,079 shares in the company, valued at $30,323,682.27. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Blackbaud Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BLKB stock opened at $87.47 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $66.47 and a 1 year high of $88.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.19.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $293.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BLKB. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. 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 Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackbaud has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackbaud

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLKB. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackbaud during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 2,950.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 190.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackbaud during the 3rd quarter worth $142,000. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.