BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Given New $65.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BL. StockNews.com downgraded BlackLine from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded BlackLine from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on BlackLine from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on BlackLine from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of BlackLine in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackLine has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.64.

BlackLine Stock Performance

NASDAQ BL opened at $44.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.97. BlackLine has a fifty-two week low of $40.82 and a fifty-two week high of $66.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.91 and a 200-day moving average of $56.18.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 21.63%. As a group, analysts predict that BlackLine will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackLine

In other news, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 9,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.67, for a total value of $451,400.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 65,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,113.38. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackLine

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackLine by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in BlackLine by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 634 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in BlackLine by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $931,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 25,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,266 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 95.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.