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 Blackbaud stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 owns 344,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,323,682.27. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Blackbaud Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Blackbaud stock opened at $86.41 on Wednesday. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.47 and a 1 year high of $88.95. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.72 and a beta of 1.03. 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 moving average price of $83.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.19.

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

Blackbaud declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackbaud

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLKB. Evercore ISI upgraded Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James dropped their price target on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced 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 research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.67.

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.