Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) Shares Gap Up to $76.72

Shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $76.72, but opened at $79.04. Blackbaud shares last traded at $79.01, with a volume of 117,531 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Blackbaud from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Blackbaud from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th.

Blackbaud Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.71 and a 200-day moving average of $76.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 2,608.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $295.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.04 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 0.16%. Blackbaud’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackbaud news, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $222,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 133,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,889,434. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blackbaud news, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $222,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 133,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,889,434. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Gianoni sold 25,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.77, for a total value of $1,743,594.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 357,104 shares in the company, valued at $24,558,042.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,897 shares of company stock worth $4,377,015 in the last ninety days. 1.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,574,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $483,316,000 after acquiring an additional 23,727 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 7,519 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 456,432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,573,000 after acquiring an additional 77,348 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 140,078 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,145,000 after acquiring an additional 16,473 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 40,317 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,495,000 after acquiring an additional 4,156 shares during the period. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.