Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Blackbaud from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

Blackbaud stock opened at $77.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,598.33 and a beta of 1.04. Blackbaud has a fifty-two week low of $64.32 and a fifty-two week high of $88.56.

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

Insider Transactions at Blackbaud

In other news, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 25,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total transaction of $1,743,594.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 357,104 shares in the company, valued at $24,558,042.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 4,955 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $366,967.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,413 shares in the company, valued at $12,324,546.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 25,354 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,743,594.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 worth $4,377,015 over the last quarter. 1.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 1.2% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 93,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 499.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 308,034 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,661,000 after acquiring an additional 256,619 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 16.2% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 74,990 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,325,000 after acquiring an additional 10,473 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $390,336,000 after acquiring an additional 70,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 worth $301,014,000 after acquiring an additional 72,071 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

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.