Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.05 Million Investment in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,100 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLKB. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Blackbaud by 499.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 308,034 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,661,000 after purchasing an additional 256,619 shares in the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 15.6% in the third quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 1,484,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,396,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 11.8% in the third quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 823,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,889,000 after acquiring an additional 86,952 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 1.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,280,633 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $301,014,000 after acquiring an additional 72,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,550,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $390,336,000 after acquiring an additional 70,115 shares in the last quarter. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLKB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Blackbaud from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Blackbaud from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th.

Insider Activity at Blackbaud

In related news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.48, for a total value of $246,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 158,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,579,140.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.48, for a total value of $246,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 158,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,579,140.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 25,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,743,594.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 357,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,558,042.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,897 shares of company stock valued at $4,377,015 over the last quarter. 1.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLKB opened at $78.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 2,612.67 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.32 and a 12 month high of $88.56.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $295.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.04 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 0.16%. Blackbaud’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.