Zacks Research Upgrades Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) to Strong-Buy

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Blackbaud in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price target on Blackbaud in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Blackbaud from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

Blackbaud Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of BLKB stock opened at $62.06 on Monday. Blackbaud has a 1-year low of $58.05 and a 1-year high of $88.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $65.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.63, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 1.08.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The technology company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackbaud had a positive return on equity of 137.13% and a negative net margin of 22.57%.The firm had revenue of $274.76 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Blackbaud will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rupal S. Hollenbeck sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $159,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,664.68. The trade was a 23.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackbaud

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,033 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares in the last quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV now owns 50,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 2,168.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackbaud in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,792,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.