Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Lowered to "Neutral" Rating by Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $80.00 price target on the technology company's stock, down from their previous price target of $92.00.

BLKB has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Blackbaud to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Blackbaud Price Performance

Shares of BLKB traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $75.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 282,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 228,968. Blackbaud has a one year low of $64.74 and a one year high of $88.56. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $83.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.03 and a beta of 1.02.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.04. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 18.54% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $287.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Blackbaud's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackbaud will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackbaud news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 4,000 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,251,728. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,251,728. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sarah E. Nash sold 3,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total value of $245,299.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,823 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,376.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,409 shares of company stock valued at $4,483,193. 1.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackbaud in the 3rd quarter valued at about $297,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Blackbaud by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 320,058 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,103,000 after buying an additional 54,138 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Blackbaud by 190.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Blackbaud by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Blackbaud by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,830 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. 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.