Short Interest in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Expands By 6.3%

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 636,500 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the October 31st total of 598,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 196,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total value of $66,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 373,293 shares in the company, valued at $31,039,312.95. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,042,125. This trade represents a 7.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,394 shares of company stock valued at $4,373,270 in the last quarter. 1.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackbaud

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $912,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Blackbaud by 6.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 11,164 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Blackbaud by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Blackbaud Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:BLKB traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $82.90. 64,620 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 230,904. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.63 and a 200-day moving average of $80.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. Blackbaud has a 52-week low of $66.47 and a 52-week high of $88.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.28 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLKB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Baird R W cut shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.67.

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.