Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Blackbaud from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Blackbaud Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Blackbaud stock opened at $76.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.85. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 2,557.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.04. Blackbaud has a fifty-two week low of $64.32 and a fifty-two week high of $88.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $295.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.04 million. Blackbaud had a net margin of 0.16% and a return on equity of 14.59%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackbaud will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 5,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $429,241.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 402,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,760,481.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 429 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $31,746.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 161,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,941,232. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 5,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $429,241.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 402,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,760,481.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,897 shares of company stock worth $3,190,458 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLKB. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Blackbaud by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 93,391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Blackbaud by 499.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 308,034 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,661,000 after acquiring an additional 256,619 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Blackbaud by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 74,990 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,325,000 after acquiring an additional 10,473 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackbaud by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,550,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $390,336,000 after acquiring an additional 70,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Blackbaud by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,280,633 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $301,014,000 after acquiring an additional 72,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

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.