BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $63.00 to $57.00. The stock had previously closed at $56.82, but opened at $52.23. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. BlackLine shares last traded at $53.2290, with a volume of 225,390 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BlackLine from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of BlackLine in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (down previously from $64.00) on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackLine news, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total value of $35,875.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 23,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,534.90. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Unterman sold 910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $50,050.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 41,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,300,925. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,394 shares of company stock valued at $186,026 over the last three months. 8.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BL. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BlackLine in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $589,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in BlackLine by 5.6% during the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 924,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,335,000 after buying an additional 49,292 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in BlackLine by 15.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 311,247 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,070,000 after buying an additional 41,653 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 7.9% during the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 126,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,157,000 after buying an additional 9,270 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in BlackLine by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 105,889 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,995,000 after acquiring an additional 28,196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

BlackLine Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 48.27, a P/E/G ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.67.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. BlackLine had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 11.07%.The firm had revenue of $178.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. BlackLine has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.080-2.130 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.580-0.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackLine will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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.