First Trust Advisors LP Increases Holdings in BlackLine $BL

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 34.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 616,716 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 159,561 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.05% of BlackLine worth $22,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackLine in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in BlackLine in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in BlackLine in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Leonteq Securities AG grew its position in BlackLine by 1,019.6% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 1,086 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in BlackLine by 306.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,220 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackLine

In related news, Director Gregory Hughes sold 1,637 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $49,519.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,755 shares in the company, valued at $234,588.75. This trade represents a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mika Yamamoto sold 3,000 shares of BlackLine stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $85,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $475,388.16. This represents a 15.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

BlackLine Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:BL opened at $32.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.42 and a beta of 0.66. BlackLine has a one year low of $24.70 and a one year high of $59.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.81.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $183.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $181.00 million. BlackLine had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 3.71%.BlackLine's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. BlackLine has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.420-2.530 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.590 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackLine will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson set a $30.00 price objective on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BlackLine from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of BlackLine from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of BlackLine in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.83.

BlackLine Company Profile

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.

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