Ameriprise Financial Inc. Increases Holdings in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 388,594 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,708 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of BlackLine worth $23,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackLine

In other news, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 9,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive now owns 65,414 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,113.38. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 8.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackLine Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:BL opened at $55.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.94. BlackLine, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.82 and a 12-month high of $66.25. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackLine, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on BlackLine from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on BlackLine from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackLine from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America upgraded BlackLine from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $50.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on BlackLine from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackLine presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.75.

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.