Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,457,902 shares, a growth of 30.2% from the March 15th total of 1,888,251 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 614,824 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLKB. Zacks Research cut shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price objective on Blackbaud in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Blackbaud in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Blackbaud in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $60.00 price target on Blackbaud in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackbaud presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $56.25.

Insider Activity at Blackbaud

In other Blackbaud news, EVP David J. Benjamin sold 14,349 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $681,147.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 73,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,471,196.28. The trade was a 16.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin P. Gregoire sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $100,040.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 135,194 shares in the company, valued at $6,762,403.88. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 39,801 shares of company stock worth $1,893,874 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackbaud in the third quarter worth about $1,287,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackbaud by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,516,432 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $354,762,000 after buying an additional 706,695 shares in the last quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP now owns 802,904 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,635,000 after acquiring an additional 96,457 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Blackbaud in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,356,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Blackbaud during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,586,000. Institutional investors own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

Shares of BLKB stock opened at $39.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.63. Blackbaud has a 52 week low of $33.95 and a 52 week high of $74.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.78.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The technology company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $295.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.71 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 175.57% and a net margin of 10.19%.The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Blackbaud has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.250 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blackbaud will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

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.