Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,086 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,790 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Blackbaud were worth $1,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLKB. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 22.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 235,859 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 56.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 482,561 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,671,000 after purchasing an additional 140,273 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Blackbaud by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 282,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,864,000 after purchasing an additional 109,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the 4th quarter valued at $6,745,000. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.33.

Blackbaud Stock Up 0.7 %

BLKB opened at $67.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of -11.36 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.40. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.69 and a 52 week high of $88.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.21.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $302.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $303.41 million. Blackbaud had a negative net margin of 24.83% and a positive return on equity of 26.30%. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.