Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Backblaze from “Buy” to “Hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $19.71.
• Backblaze shares opened at $13.16, down 4.6%, after trading between $3.26 and $23.99 over the past year. The company recently beat quarterly estimates, reporting $42.71 million in revenue and $0.08 in EPS versus expectations of $39.94 million and $0.02.
• Backblaze insiders sold shares to cover tax obligations tied to vested equity awards, while institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 54.03% of the company.

Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

BLZE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Backblaze from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of Backblaze from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Backblaze in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Backblaze from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Backblaze in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Backblaze presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.71.

Backblaze Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:BLZE opened at $13.16 on Friday. Backblaze has a 52-week low of $3.26 and a 52-week high of $23.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $814.60 million, a P/E ratio of -38.70 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.79.

Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.06. Backblaze had a negative return on equity of 16.73% and a negative net margin of 13.07%.The firm had revenue of $42.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.94 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Backblaze will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Backblaze

In other Backblaze news, CFO Marc Suidan sold 2,110 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total transaction of $33,380.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 349,518 shares in the company, valued at $5,529,374.76. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Gleb Budman sold 12,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total value of $203,366.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,192,103 shares in the company, valued at $34,679,069.46. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Backblaze

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Backblaze by 83.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,726 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Backblaze by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 30,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,679 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Backblaze during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $77,000. P.A.W. Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Backblaze by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. P.A.W. Capital Corp now owns 300,000 shares of the company's stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Backblaze during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 54.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Backblaze Company Profile

Backblaze, Inc provides cloud storage and data backup services for businesses, developers and individual users. Its platform is designed to help customers store, protect, manage and recover data through scalable cloud-based infrastructure.

The company's principal offerings include Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, an object-storage service used for applications, content distribution, backup, archiving and disaster recovery, and Backblaze Computer Backup, which helps individuals and organizations back up data from computers.

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