Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.39 Million Stock Holdings in BlackLine $BL

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 361,796 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,034 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.61% of BlackLine worth $13,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in BlackLine by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 2,428,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,278,000 after purchasing an additional 340,606 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,787,000. Engaged Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 138.8% during the 4th quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 1,083,619 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,913,000 after buying an additional 629,825 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of BlackLine by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,078 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,776,000 after buying an additional 23,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of BlackLine by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 513,891 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,288,000 after buying an additional 26,699 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

BlackLine Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of BL stock opened at $28.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.45. BlackLine has a twelve month low of $24.70 and a twelve month high of $59.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.84 and a beta of 0.66.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. BlackLine had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 3.71%.The firm had revenue of $183.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. BlackLine has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.420-2.530 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.590 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackLine will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of BlackLine from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Scotiabank lowered shares of BlackLine to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of BlackLine from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of BlackLine in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackLine presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mika Yamamoto sold 3,000 shares of BlackLine stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $85,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,692 shares in the company, valued at $475,388.16. This trade represents a 15.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory Hughes sold 1,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $49,519.25. Following the sale, the director owned 7,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,588.75. This trade represents a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

BlackLine Profile

BlackLine, Inc is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions designed to automate and modernize the finance and accounting function. The company’s flagship offering, the BlackLine Finance Controls and Automation Platform, enables organizations to streamline critical processes such as account reconciliations, journal entry management, intercompany accounting, and transaction matching. By delivering a centralized, real-time view of financial data, BlackLine helps companies improve operational efficiency, enhance compliance and strengthen internal controls.

Key products and services within the BlackLine platform include Account Reconciliation, Task Management, Transaction Matching, Journal Entry, and Intercompany Hub.