PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Stake in BlackLine $BL

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) by 50.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,188 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,205 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackLine were worth $154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BL. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackLine during the fourth quarter valued at about $263,000. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in BlackLine during the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in BlackLine by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 38,200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14,100 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in BlackLine by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 456,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,709,000 after acquiring an additional 28,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in BlackLine by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 721,831 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,858,000 after acquiring an additional 58,365 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BL has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of BlackLine from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up previously from $58.00) on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of BlackLine to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of BlackLine from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.08.

BlackLine Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of BlackLine stock opened at $51.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $54.80 and its 200 day moving average is $52.32. BlackLine has a twelve month low of $40.82 and a twelve month high of $66.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $172.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.87 million. BlackLine had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that BlackLine will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

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.