Northern Trust Corp Grows Position in BlackLine $BL

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in BlackLine by 3.4% in the first quarter, owning approximately 1.24% of the company amounting to $37.32 million.
• Several institutional investors made significant adjustments to their BlackLine positions; for example, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings by 67.6%, and Bayforest Capital Ltd. increased theirs by 282.6%.
• BlackLine reported $0.51 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing the analysts' consensus estimate of $0.50, with revenue also exceeding expectations at $172.03 million.

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 770,765 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 25,368 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.24% of BlackLine worth $37,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BL. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackLine by 106.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,186,347 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,443,000 after purchasing an additional 611,499 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackLine by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 961,341 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,548,000 after purchasing an additional 64,676 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackLine by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 783,437 shares of the technology company's stock worth $47,602,000 after purchasing an additional 218,976 shares during the period. Tensile Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of BlackLine by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Tensile Capital Management LP now owns 740,997 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,023,000 after purchasing an additional 105,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of BlackLine by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 721,831 shares of the technology company's stock worth $43,858,000 after purchasing an additional 58,365 shares during the period. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackLine Stock Down 1.4%

BL stock traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $53.63. 360,487 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 756,904. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.58, a P/E/G ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $54.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. BlackLine has a 52 week low of $40.82 and a 52 week high of $66.25.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $172.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.87 million. BlackLine had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 15.95%. BlackLine's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackLine will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BL shares. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $67.00 price target (up previously from $58.00) on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BlackLine from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackLine presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 664 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total value of $35,875.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 23,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,534.90. This represents a 2.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackLine Company 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.