First Manhattan CO. LLC. Makes New $9.75 Million Investment in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new stake in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 160,410 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,747,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.26% of BlackLine as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackLine by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 290,775 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,033,000 after buying an additional 34,919 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackLine by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,113,882 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $128,439,000 after purchasing an additional 354,784 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 154.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,522 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 147,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,955,000 after purchasing an additional 8,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in BlackLine in the 4th quarter worth about $244,000. 95.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackLine Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ BL opened at $53.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.94. BlackLine, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.82 and a 1-year high of $66.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.50 and a 200-day moving average of $55.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.29). BlackLine had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 21.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackLine, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BL shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of BlackLine from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of BlackLine in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on BlackLine from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on BlackLine from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on BlackLine from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackLine

In other news, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 9,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.67, for a total transaction of $451,400.96. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 65,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,249,113.38. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

About BlackLine

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.