Polen Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL)

Key Points

• Polen Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in BlackLine by 12.3% in Q1, owning 55,099 shares valued at approximately $2.67 million after selling 7,692 shares.
• Analysts have varied opinions on BlackLine, with target prices ranging from $43 to $68; the average rating is classified as "Hold."
• BlackLine's recent earnings report showed a net margin of 13.05% with revenue of $172.03 million, exceeding analyst expectations.

Polen Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,099 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 7,692 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of BlackLine worth $2,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in BlackLine by 59.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 53,811 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,270,000 after acquiring an additional 20,008 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in BlackLine by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 159,076 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,702,000 after acquiring an additional 11,549 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in BlackLine by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 96,597 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,869,000 after acquiring an additional 37,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackLine by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the technology company's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. 95.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackLine Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of BL traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $50.66. The stock had a trading volume of 456,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 752,328. BlackLine has a 1 year low of $40.82 and a 1 year high of $66.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 39.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.91. 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's 50 day moving average is $55.21 and its 200 day moving average is $52.73.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.01. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackLine will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BL. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of BlackLine from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BlackLine from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of BlackLine from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BlackLine from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackLine currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackLine news, CRO Mark Woodhams sold 1,856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $101,430.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Michelle D. Stalick sold 795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.14, for a total transaction of $43,836.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 25,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,391,457.90. This represents a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.