Stifel Nicolaus Raises Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Price Target to $85.00

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $80.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 1.70% from the stock’s current price.

BLKB has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Blackbaud from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Blackbaud Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLKB traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $83.58. 30,707 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 239,248. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 203.85 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.62. Blackbaud has a 12 month low of $64.32 and a 12 month high of $88.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $287.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.26 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 18.54% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Blackbaud will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $170,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,125. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Kevin Mcdearis sold 3,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.16, for a total value of $273,363.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,802 shares in the company, valued at $5,433,378.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $170,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,125. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,409 shares of company stock valued at $4,483,193 in the last 90 days. 1.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Blackbaud by 2,950.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the second quarter worth about $33,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Blackbaud during the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Blackbaud by 303.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 734 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares in the last quarter. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.