Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $6.26 Million Stock Position in BlackLine $BL

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management increased its BlackLine stake by 2,609.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 113,197 shares worth about $6.26 million.
• BlackLine reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.56 versus $0.45 expected and revenue of $183.16 million, up 9.7% year over year. The company also issued FY 2026 guidance of $2.42 to $2.53 EPS.
• Despite the earnings beat, Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a $43.67 price target, while shares traded around $28.90 and insider director Gregory Hughes recently sold stock.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 2,609.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,197 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 109,019 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned about 0.19% of BlackLine worth $6,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BL. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 5,776.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 475,665 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,300,000 after buying an additional 467,571 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 720.9% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 191,695 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,179,000 after buying an additional 168,344 shares in the last quarter. Ananym Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 37.5% during the third quarter. Ananym Capital Management LP now owns 442,511 shares of the technology company's stock worth $23,497,000 after buying an additional 120,590 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 112.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 209,711 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,874,000 after buying an additional 111,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sone Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the second quarter worth $5,511,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company's stock.

BlackLine Stock Down 0.1%

BL stock opened at $28.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 67.21 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.28. BlackLine has a 52 week low of $24.70 and a 52 week high of $59.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $183.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $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 anticipate that BlackLine will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BL. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on BlackLine from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on BlackLine from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on BlackLine from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on BlackLine in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on BlackLine from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackLine has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregory Hughes sold 1,637 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total value of $49,519.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $234,588.75. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackLine 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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