BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to “Neutral”

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) was upgraded by research analysts at Piper Sandler from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $62.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $55.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.45% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. William Blair lowered shares of BlackLine from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of BlackLine from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackLine from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.20.

BlackLine Price Performance

BL opened at $59.93 on Tuesday. BlackLine has a one year low of $47.26 and a one year high of $69.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -599.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.37, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 2.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.27.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.28. BlackLine had a negative net margin of 1.50% and a positive return on equity of 2.15%. The firm had revenue of $155.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.24 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackLine will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Unterman sold 750 shares of BlackLine stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,088,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Thomas Unterman sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,088,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kevin B. Thompson sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $258,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackLine

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BL. CWM LLC increased its position in BlackLine by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in BlackLine during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in BlackLine by 505.2% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 926 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackLine by 291.2% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutler Group LLC CA bought a new stake in BlackLine during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BlackLine

BlackLine, Inc provides cloud-based solutions to automate and streamline accounting and finance operations worldwide. It offers financial close management solutions, such as account reconciliations that provides a centralized workspace for users to collaborate on account reconciliations; transaction matching that analyzes and reconciles individual transactions; task management to create and manage processes and task lists; and financial reporting analytics that enables analysis and validation of financial data.