First Personal Financial Services Boosts Stake in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB)

First Personal Financial Services lifted its holdings in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,640 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,424 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services’ holdings in Blackbaud were worth $1,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Blackbaud by 1.2% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Blackbaud by 6.2% during 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 raised its stake in Blackbaud by 2.1% during the second quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 11,164 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Blackbaud by 6.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Blackbaud by 2,950.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. 94.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackbaud Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Blackbaud stock opened at $83.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.67. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.47 and a 12-month high of $88.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.33 and a beta of 1.03.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $293.74 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 4.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $800.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLKB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David J. Benjamin sold 5,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.04, for a total transaction of $436,243.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,108 shares in the company, valued at $3,988,468.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP David J. Benjamin sold 5,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.04, for a total value of $436,243.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,988,468.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 3,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $280,673.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,027,347.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,189 shares of company stock worth $3,933,893 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

Blackbaud 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.