Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,605 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 48,239 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Blackbaud worth $8,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLKB. Angeles Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackbaud during the third quarter worth $297,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Blackbaud by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 320,058 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,103,000 after buying an additional 54,138 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 190.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackbaud by 6.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 40.1% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,830 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $917,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLKB. Raymond James reduced their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird downgraded Blackbaud from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Blackbaud to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Baird R W lowered shares of Blackbaud from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Blackbaud from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.67.

Blackbaud Stock Up 1.7 %

BLKB opened at $82.34 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.73 and a beta of 1.03. Blackbaud, Inc. has a one year low of $66.47 and a one year high of $88.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.95.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $286.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.74 million. Blackbaud had a return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 4.61%. Blackbaud’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Blackbaud, Inc. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackbaud announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 30th that allows the company to buyback $800.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 18.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackbaud news, SVP Jon W. Olson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $170,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,042,125. This trade represents a 7.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Kevin P. Gregoire sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,880,060. This represents a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,186 shares of company stock worth $3,459,942 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.95% 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.