BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $57.96, but opened at $59.46. BlackLine shares last traded at $58.72, with a volume of 32,505 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackLine from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on BlackLine from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research cut their price objective on BlackLine from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackLine from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackLine presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.60.

BlackLine Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.36, a P/E/G ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.90.

Insider Activity at BlackLine

In related news, insider Karole Morgan-Prager sold 27,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total transaction of $1,626,364.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 113,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,838,731.90. The trade was a 19.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Partin sold 5,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $299,344.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 226,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,022,732. The trade was a 2.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,108 shares of company stock worth $7,488,826 over the last quarter. Insiders own 9.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackLine

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in BlackLine by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,944 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,380,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,662,000 after buying an additional 642,772 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,495 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 111,589 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,206,000 after buying an additional 7,674 shares during the period. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackLine by 7.5% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 30,440 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

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.