BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) Shares Acquired by Gagnon Securities LLC

Key Points

• Gagnon Securities LLC increased its position in BlackLine by 27.1%, acquiring over 53,000 shares and making it their 13th largest holding, valued at approximately $12 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Westwood Holdings Group and Bayforest Capital Ltd, have significantly raised their stakes in BlackLine, resulting in institutional investors holding 95.13% of the company's stock.
• Analysts generally maintain a neutral rating on BlackLine, with a recent increase in price targets by firms such as Piper Sandler ($50) and Morgan Stanley ($68), while the stock has an average target price of $61.29.

Gagnon Securities LLC raised its position in shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 27.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 250,738 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 53,460 shares during the quarter. BlackLine makes up about 2.7% of Gagnon Securities LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Gagnon Securities LLC owned 0.40% of BlackLine worth $12,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 106.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,186,347 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,443,000 after acquiring an additional 611,499 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 3.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 85,274 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,129,000 after acquiring an additional 3,036 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 1.6% during the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 50,317 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,436,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 282.6% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 4,277 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BlackLine in the first quarter valued at approximately $533,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered BlackLine from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on BlackLine from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackLine from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on BlackLine in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackLine has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.29.

BlackLine Price Performance

Shares of BL opened at $52.00 on Thursday. BlackLine has a twelve month low of $40.82 and a twelve month high of $66.25. The stock's 50 day moving average is $55.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 40.31, a P/E/G ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. BlackLine had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $172.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that BlackLine will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackLine

In other news, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 795 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.14, for a total transaction of $43,836.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 25,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,391,457.90. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 1,856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $101,430.40. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 61,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,354,963.50. This trade represents a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackLine 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.

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