BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $63.40, but opened at $54.05. BlackLine shares last traded at $52.48, with a volume of 1,039,943 shares traded.

The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.29). BlackLine had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 31.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. increased their price objective on BlackLine from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised BlackLine from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on BlackLine from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on BlackLine from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 24,408 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.32, for a total value of $1,569,922.56. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BlackLine

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in BlackLine by 13.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 290,775 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,033,000 after buying an additional 34,919 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackLine by 307.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,452 shares of the technology company's stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 12,415 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in BlackLine by 61.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,677 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,416,000 after buying an additional 9,820 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in BlackLine during the third quarter worth approximately $1,506,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in BlackLine by 74.0% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 204,328 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,335,000 after buying an additional 86,931 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.13% of the company's stock.

BlackLine Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 52.42, a P/E/G ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.15 and a 200 day moving average of $56.83.

BlackLine Company Profile

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.