Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Sells $1,026,056.25 in Stock

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 12,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $1,026,056.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 389,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,429,121.75. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Blackbaud Price Performance

Blackbaud stock traded up $2.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $85.37. 261,287 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 232,265. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.47 and a 1-year high of $88.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.39 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

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

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to buyback $800.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on BLKB shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Blackbaud to a “hold” 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 for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Baird R W lowered shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report 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 data from MarketBeat, Blackbaud presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Blackbaud by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,283,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,684,000 after acquiring an additional 235,859 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Blackbaud by 56.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 429,051 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,332,000 after purchasing an additional 154,019 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Blackbaud by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,646,203 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $418,609,000 after buying an additional 71,619 shares during the last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackbaud in the third quarter worth approximately $5,987,000. Finally, Kestrel Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackbaud during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,795,000. 94.21% of the stock is 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.