Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Makes New Investment in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,298 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,864 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,069 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 10,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.15, for a total transaction of $654,182.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,308.85. This represents a 31.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Blackbaud from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackbaud currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.67.

Blackbaud Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:BLKB opened at $64.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.40, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78. Blackbaud, Inc. has a one year low of $58.05 and a one year high of $88.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.93 and a beta of 1.16.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.06. Blackbaud had a positive return on equity of 26.30% and a negative net margin of 24.83%. The business had revenue of $270.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.