Short Interest in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Declines By 8.4%

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) saw a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 604,300 shares, a drop of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 659,400 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 186,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

BLKB stock opened at $85.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 207.85 and a beta of 1.02. Blackbaud has a 1 year low of $64.32 and a 1 year high of $88.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.69.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $287.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.26 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 18.54% and a net margin of 3.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Blackbaud will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to buyback $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BLKB. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Blackbaud from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $170,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 24,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,042,125. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $170,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,042,125. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,251,728. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,409 shares of company stock valued at $4,483,193 over the last 90 days. 1.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,646,203 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $418,609,000 after purchasing an additional 71,619 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Blackbaud by 1.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,840,576 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $210,599,000 after acquiring an additional 53,057 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackbaud by 12.7% in the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,195,891 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $88,663,000 after acquiring an additional 135,103 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Blackbaud by 0.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,036,467 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,949,000 after acquiring an additional 8,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its position in Blackbaud by 1.6% in the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 657,419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,076,000 after acquiring an additional 10,203 shares in the last quarter. 94.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.