Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BLKB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Blackbaud in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price objective on Blackbaud in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Blackbaud from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackbaud currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLKB opened at $62.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.21. Blackbaud has a 52 week low of $58.05 and a 52 week high of $88.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.63.

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

Insider Transactions at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, Director Rupal S. Hollenbeck sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $159,950.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,664.68. The trade was a 23.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 215.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 458 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackbaud in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackbaud during the second quarter worth $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 46.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 68.3% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.