Baird R W Downgrades BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) to Hold

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) was downgraded by stock analysts at Baird R W from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on BlackLine from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of BlackLine in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (down from $64.00) on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of BlackLine from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.50.

BlackLine Price Performance

Shares of BL opened at $53.58 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.37 and its 200 day moving average is $53.67. BlackLine has a 12-month low of $40.82 and a 12-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. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.27, a P/E/G ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 1.02.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The firm had revenue of $178.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.11 million. BlackLine had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. 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 anticipate that BlackLine will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total transaction of $35,875.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 23,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,534.90. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas Unterman sold 910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $50,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,300,925. The trade was a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,394 shares of company stock valued at $186,026. 8.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BL. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the second quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BlackLine in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of BlackLine by 110.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 667 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 989 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in BlackLine by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,243 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.