Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) Stock Moved Down to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Backblaze from “buy” to “hold.” Despite the move, analyst sentiment overall remains “Moderate Buy,” with seven Buy, one Hold, and one Sell rating and an average price target of $18.57.
• Backblaze’s latest quarter beat expectations, reporting EPS of $0.09 versus $0.05 forecast and revenue of $46.65 million versus $44.59 million expected.
• The company remained unprofitable, with a negative net margin of 11.47%; analysts expect a full-year loss of $0.18 per share.

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Backblaze from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Backblaze from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on shares of Backblaze from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Backblaze in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Backblaze from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.57.

Backblaze Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLZE opened at $7.74 on Friday. Backblaze has a 1 year low of $3.26 and a 1 year high of $23.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 3.17 and a quick ratio of 3.17.

Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.04. Backblaze had a negative return on equity of 13.34% and a negative net margin of 11.47%. The firm had revenue of $46.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.59 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Backblaze will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLZE. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Backblaze by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Backblaze in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Backblaze by 842.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,941 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of Backblaze during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Backblaze during the second quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 54.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Backblaze Company Profile

Backblaze, Inc. provides cloud storage and data-protection services for individuals and businesses. Its offerings include Backblaze Computer Backup, which backs up files from computers, and Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, an object-storage service used to store and manage data. Founded in 2007, the company serves customers around the world through its cloud platform. B2 Cloud Storage supports integrations with a range of software and storage tools, while the company's backup services are designed to help customers protect and restore data.

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