Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $23.77 Million in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 391,208 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $23,770,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.63% of BlackLine at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackLine by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 73,888 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,475,000 after acquiring an additional 21,360 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 71,370 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,336,000 after purchasing an additional 7,316 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 243.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 584 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in BlackLine by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 149,369 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,076,000 after buying an additional 21,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in BlackLine in the 4th quarter valued at about $352,000. 95.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 9,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.67, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 8.60% of the company's stock.

BlackLine Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BL stock traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $46.64. 101,990 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 803,050. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. BlackLine, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.82 and a 12 month high of $66.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $47.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.84.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackLine, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded BlackLine from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $50.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of BlackLine from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BlackLine from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.00.

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.