Empowered Funds LLC Invests $1.73 Million in Blackbaud, Inc. $BLKB

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 44,785 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Blackbaud at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLKB. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Blackbaud by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 39,399 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after buying an additional 24,145 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackbaud during the first quarter worth $1,351,000. Aristides Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Blackbaud by 63.5% during the first quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 48,186 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 18,710 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Blackbaud by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 312,992 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,085,000 after acquiring an additional 104,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Blackbaud by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 26,928 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. 94.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, CFO Chad Anderson sold 6,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.31, for a total value of $194,278.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,968,428.39. This trade represents a 8.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kevin P. Gregoire sold 22,000 shares of Blackbaud stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.50, for a total transaction of $1,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 113,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,150,327. This trade represents a 16.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

BLKB opened at $45.87 on Friday. Blackbaud, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.58 and a 52-week high of $70.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.82, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.64.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $290.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.23 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 197.49% and a net margin of 13.12%.The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Blackbaud has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLKB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on Blackbaud in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Blackbaud in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackbaud from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $45.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.50.

About Blackbaud

Blackbaud, Inc is a leading provider of cloud software, services and data intelligence solutions designed specifically for the social good community. The company’s main offerings include fundraising and relationship management platforms, financial management systems, grant and award management tools, and advanced analytics. Its flagship products—such as Raiser’s Edge NXT, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT and Blackbaud NetCommunity—help nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, healthcare providers and foundations streamline donor engagement, optimize financial operations and measure program impact.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Blackbaud has grown from a small technology startup into a global specialist in nonprofit software.