BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Upgraded to Overweight by Morgan Stanley

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $70.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $60.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 32.45% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on BL. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of BlackLine from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of BlackLine from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on BlackLine from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price objective on BlackLine from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.90.

BlackLine Price Performance

Shares of BlackLine stock opened at $52.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 229.78, a P/E/G ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.74. BlackLine has a 1-year low of $43.37 and a 1-year high of $69.31.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. BlackLine had a return on equity of 33.96% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $160.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.69) EPS. BlackLine’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackLine will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackLine

In related news, Director Barbara Whye sold 5,378 shares of BlackLine stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total transaction of $279,709.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,471.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Karole Morgan-Prager sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 115,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,771,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Barbara Whye sold 5,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.01, for a total value of $279,709.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,777 shares in the company, valued at $352,471.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,765 shares of company stock valued at $851,418 in the last quarter. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackLine

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in BlackLine by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,306 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in BlackLine by 29.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in BlackLine by 9.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 4,699 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackLine during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackLine Company Profile

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.