Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 206,437 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 145,931 shares.The stock last traded at $77.49 and had previously closed at $78.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on BLKB shares. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Baird R W cut shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackbaud presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.77 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released 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). The company had revenue of $286.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.74 million. Blackbaud had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 20.34%. Blackbaud’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Blackbaud

In related news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $848,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 140,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,230.70. The trade was a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 9,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.13, for a total value of $835,384.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 344,079 shares in the company, valued at $30,323,682.27. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,923 shares of company stock valued at $3,737,450 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLKB. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 42.0% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,676 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackbaud during the third quarter worth about $142,000. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its stake in Blackbaud by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,985 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. 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.