Eagle Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 74.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 204,328 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 86,931 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.33% of BlackLine worth $12,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in BlackLine by 13.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,306 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in BlackLine by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,638 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in BlackLine by 31.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,392 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of BlackLine by 2.4% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 25,800 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,250,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackLine Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BL traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.70. 576,984 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 728,996. BlackLine, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.37 and a 1 year high of $69.31. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.98, a PEG ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 2.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Karole Morgan-Prager sold 5,773 shares of BlackLine stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.14, for a total transaction of $318,323.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 113,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,278,516.10. This trade represents a 4.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark Partin sold 5,648 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $299,344.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 226,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,022,732. The trade was a 2.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,108 shares of company stock worth $7,488,826 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of BlackLine from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BTIG Research decreased their target price on shares of BlackLine from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on BlackLine from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.10.

BlackLine Company Profile

BlackLine, Inc provides cloud-based solutions to automate and streamline accounting and finance operations worldwide. It offers financial close management solutions, such as account reconciliations that provides a centralized workspace for users to collaborate on account reconciliations; transaction matching that analyzes and reconciles individual transactions; task management to create and manage processes and task lists; and financial reporting analytics that enables analysis and validation of financial data.