Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Cut to Hold at Baird R W

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Baird R W from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI raised Blackbaud to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird cut Blackbaud from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Up 3.3 %

NASDAQ:BLKB traded up $2.50 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.01. 298,321 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 229,294. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $83.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.03 and a beta of 1.02. Blackbaud has a fifty-two week low of $66.47 and a fifty-two week high of $88.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.04. Blackbaud had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 20.34%. The company had revenue of $287.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackbaud will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 7,333 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total transaction of $569,407.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 110,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,019.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackbaud news, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 7,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $569,407.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 110,715 shares in the company, valued at $8,597,019.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah E. Nash sold 3,220 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total value of $245,299.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,043,376.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,409 shares of company stock worth $4,483,193. 1.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackbaud in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 2,950.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackbaud by 190.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 447.8% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackbaud in the second quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 94.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.