Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on BLKB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Blackbaud in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 target price on shares of Blackbaud in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blackbaud from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackbaud presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Blackbaud Trading Down 1.2%

BLKB stock opened at $63.52 on Monday. Blackbaud has a twelve month low of $54.56 and a twelve month high of $81.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.59.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The technology company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $274.76 million during the quarter. Blackbaud had a negative net margin of 22.57% and a positive return on equity of 137.13%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blackbaud will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blackbaud

In related news, Director Rupal S. Hollenbeck sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.49, for a total value of $90,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,615.34. This represents a 20.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.68, for a total transaction of $288,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 372,985 shares in the company, valued at $21,513,774.80. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,600 shares of company stock valued at $690,834. 1.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackbaud in the second quarter valued at about $4,381,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 262.9% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,421 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 11,896 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the second quarter valued at about $3,121,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackbaud in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Finally, Greenhouse Funds LLLP boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 40.4% in the 2nd quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP now owns 706,447 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,361,000 after purchasing an additional 203,350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

About Blackbaud

Blackbaud, Inc is a leading provider of cloud software, services and data intelligence solutions designed specifically for the social good community. The company’s main offerings include fundraising and relationship management platforms, financial management systems, grant and award management tools, and advanced analytics. Its flagship products—such as Raiser’s Edge NXT, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT and Blackbaud NetCommunity—help nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, healthcare providers and foundations streamline donor engagement, optimize financial operations and measure program impact.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Blackbaud has grown from a small technology startup into a global specialist in nonprofit software.