Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 777,371 Shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL)

Brown Advisory Inc. decreased its position in shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) by 99.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,066 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 777,371 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in BlackLine were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 571,054 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,650,000 after acquiring an additional 12,057 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in BlackLine by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 313,527 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,181,000 after purchasing an additional 8,496 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in BlackLine by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,919 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in BlackLine in the first quarter worth $290,000. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in BlackLine by 22.9% in the first quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 590,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,568,000 after purchasing an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackLine

In other news, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.14, for a total value of $43,836.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 25,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,391,457.90. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 1,856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $101,430.40. Following the sale, the executive owned 61,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,354,963.50. This trade represents a 2.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackLine Price Performance

Shares of BL opened at $54.17 on Wednesday. BlackLine has a twelve month low of $40.82 and a twelve month high of $66.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.62 and a 200 day moving average of $53.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on BlackLine in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BlackLine from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of BlackLine from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of BlackLine from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.54.

BlackLine Company Profile

BlackLine, Inc operates a cloud-based software platform which is designed to transform accounting and finance operations for organizations of all types and sizes. Its scalable platform supports critical accounting processes such as the financial close, account reconciliations, intercompany accounting, and controls assurance.