Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 290,775 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,919 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of BlackLine worth $16,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BL. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 1.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,539 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in BlackLine by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,638 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in BlackLine by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,392 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in BlackLine during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackLine by 17.2% in the second quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 4,899 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackLine Stock Performance

Shares of BlackLine stock traded down $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.20. 335,414 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 849,582. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.45, a PEG ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.69. BlackLine, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.37 and a 12-month high of $69.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.56.

Insider Activity

In other BlackLine 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 transaction of $1,569,922.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 72,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,690,214.40. This trade represents a 25.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark Partin sold 85,308 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $4,678,290.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 226,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,440,124.96. This trade represents a 27.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,868 shares of company stock valued at $8,759,404 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BL shares. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of BlackLine from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackLine from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackLine from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackLine from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackLine presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

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.