Short Interest in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Declines By 8.6%

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 559,200 shares, a decrease of 8.6% from the January 15th total of 611,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 200,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BLKB shares. Robert W. Baird cut Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Baird R W lowered Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.67.

Blackbaud Trading Down 8.1 %

BLKB stock opened at $73.42 on Tuesday. Blackbaud has a 52 week low of $66.47 and a 52 week high of $88.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.41. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 70.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.50). Blackbaud had a return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 4.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackbaud will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blackbaud

In related news, CFO Anthony W. Boor sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total value of $848,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 140,262 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,230.70. This represents a 6.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 9,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 344,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,323,682.27. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,279 shares of company stock worth $1,750,404 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,638 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake 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 valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,985 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,864 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,612 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.