First Manhattan CO. LLC. Increases Stock Position in BlackLine $BL

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC significantly increased its stake in BlackLine by acquiring 655,565 shares, raising its ownership to approximately 1.31% and valued at $39.51 million.
• Several other institutional investors also raised their stakes, with BlackLine seeing an overall 95.13% ownership by institutional investors in the company.
• Research analysts have mixed ratings for BlackLine, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.08, despite some analysts raising their price targets recently.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 408.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 815,975 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 655,565 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned 1.31% of BlackLine worth $39,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in BlackLine by 67.6% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,122 shares of the technology company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,919 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the 1st quarter valued at $182,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 282.6% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 4,277 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the 4th quarter valued at $263,000. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on BL shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BlackLine to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of BlackLine in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of BlackLine from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BlackLine from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of BlackLine from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackLine has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.08.

BlackLine Price Performance

Shares of BlackLine stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 756,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,685. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.86. BlackLine has a one year low of $40.82 and a one year high of $66.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a P/E/G ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 0.95.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $172.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.87 million. BlackLine had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. BlackLine has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.130-2.240 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.480-0.510 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BlackLine will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 664 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total transaction of $35,875.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 23,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,534.90. This represents a 2.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.60% of the company's stock.

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.