Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,414,835 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,420 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned 2.31% of BlackLine worth $88,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BL. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 14.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,251 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 10.0% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,764 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 54.9% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,627 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,096,000 after acquiring an additional 10,141 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 1.5% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 57,983 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,246,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in BlackLine by 8.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,478 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. 95.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on BlackLine from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. William Blair downgraded BlackLine from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on BlackLine from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on BlackLine in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on BlackLine from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.80.

Insider Activity at BlackLine

In related news, Director Thomas Unterman sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,088,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Thomas Unterman sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,088,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kevin B. Thompson sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $258,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $632,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackLine Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BL traded down $4.40 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.21. 901,189 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 944,591. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.37, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 2.19. BlackLine, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.26 and a 52-week high of $69.31. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $62.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.81. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -642.10, a PEG ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.86.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.28. BlackLine had a positive return on equity of 2.15% and a negative net margin of 1.50%. The firm had revenue of $155.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $154.24 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackLine, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

About BlackLine

BlackLine, Inc provides cloud-based solutions to automate and streamline accounting and finance operations worldwide. It offers financial close management solutions, such as account reconciliations that provides a centralized workspace for users to collaborate on account reconciliations; transaction matching that analyzes and reconciles individual transactions; task management to create and manage processes and task lists; and financial reporting analytics that enables analysis and validation of financial data.