BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on BlackLine, with eight holds, five buys and two sells among 15 firms. The average 12-month price target is $40.08, above the stock’s reported $28.75 price.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed but generally cautious, including price-target cuts from Piper Sandler to $35 and Morgan Stanley to $33; Scotiabank also downgraded the stock to “outperform.”
• BlackLine exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.61 in EPS versus a $0.57 estimate and $187.82 million in revenue, up 9.1% year over year. However, insiders sold shares, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.0833.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BL shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $50.00) on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank cut BlackLine to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded BlackLine from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $35.00 price objective on BlackLine in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackLine news, Director Therese Tucker sold 70,000 shares of BlackLine stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.96, for a total transaction of $2,237,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 381,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,194,561.72. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 780 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.65, for a total transaction of $26,247.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 34,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,168,058.80. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackLine

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,538,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in BlackLine by 2,636.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,711,316 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,037,000 after buying an additional 1,648,775 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in BlackLine in the 2nd quarter valued at about $325,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in BlackLine in the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in BlackLine in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company's stock.

BlackLine Price Performance

NASDAQ:BL opened at $28.75 on Friday. BlackLine has a 1-year low of $24.70 and a 1-year high of $59.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 50.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.66.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. BlackLine had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $187.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. BlackLine has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.470-2.540 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.650 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that BlackLine will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About BlackLine

BlackLine, Inc is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions designed to automate and modernize the finance and accounting function. The company's flagship offering, the BlackLine Finance Controls and Automation Platform, enables organizations to streamline critical processes such as account reconciliations, journal entry management, intercompany accounting, and transaction matching. By delivering a centralized, real-time view of financial data, BlackLine helps companies improve operational efficiency, enhance compliance and strengthen internal controls.

Key products and services within the BlackLine platform include Account Reconciliation, Task Management, Transaction Matching, Journal Entry, and Intercompany Hub.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.