Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $88.95 and last traded at $88.28, with a volume of 103550 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Baird R W downgraded Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James dropped their target price on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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, Blackbaud presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Down 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.60 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.26.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.08). Blackbaud had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 20.34%. The business had revenue of $286.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.74 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Blackbaud’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $800.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 18.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackbaud news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 10,000 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $848,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 9,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.13, for a total transaction of $835,384.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 344,079 shares in the company, valued at $30,323,682.27. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 75,390 shares of company stock worth $6,369,938. 1.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLKB. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Blackbaud by 0.6% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,152 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Blackbaud by 6.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its position in Blackbaud by 2.1% during the second quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 11,164 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Blackbaud by 6.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. 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.