BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $63.40, but opened at $54.05. BlackLine shares last traded at $52.48, with a volume of 1,039,943 shares traded.

The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.29). BlackLine had a return on equity of 31.02% and a net margin of 19.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on BlackLine from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised BlackLine from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $50.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of BlackLine from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackLine from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackLine currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.40.

Insider Activity at BlackLine

In other news, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 24,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.32, for a total value of $1,569,922.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 72,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,690,214.40. This represents a 25.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackLine

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in BlackLine during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackLine by 568.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackLine in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in BlackLine by 596.4% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

BlackLine Stock Down 18.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.00, a P/E/G ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.92. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.77.

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.