Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 940,500 shares, a growth of 31.1% from the February 28th total of 717,600 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 277,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Blackbaud by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,638 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its holdings in Blackbaud by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 2,985 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Blackbaud by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,864 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Blackbaud by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,612 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackbaud by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,930 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.21% of the company’s stock.

Blackbaud Stock Performance

Shares of BLKB stock opened at $62.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.40, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.52 and a beta of 1.08. Blackbaud has a 52 week low of $61.20 and a 52 week high of $88.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.33.

Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.50). Blackbaud had a positive return on equity of 26.30% and a negative net margin of 24.83%. The company had revenue of $302.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $303.41 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackbaud will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Blackbaud from $80.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.33.

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.