BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Shares Up 9.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) rose 9.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $30.54 and last traded at $31.1630. 895,202 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 1,244,391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BL. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Scotiabank downgraded BlackLine to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on BlackLine from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of BlackLine in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded BlackLine from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.08.

BlackLine Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.57, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. BlackLine had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 4.75%.The company had revenue of $187.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. BlackLine has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.470-2.540 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackLine will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mika Yamamoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $85,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,388.16. The trade was a 15.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory Hughes sold 1,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackLine

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackLine during the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,787,000. Engaged Capital LLC lifted its stake in BlackLine by 138.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of BlackLine in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,335,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 5,776.8% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 475,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,300,000 after buying an additional 467,571 shares during the period. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of BlackLine by 26.3% during the first quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 1,890,823 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $69,960,000 after acquiring an additional 393,192 shares in the last quarter. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BlackLine

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.