BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,890,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the October 31st total of 4,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 663,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.4 days. Currently, 9.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

BlackLine Stock Up 1.0 %

BL traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $63.40. 90,329 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 870,843. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.90. BlackLine has a 12-month low of $43.37 and a 12-month high of $69.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.82 and a 200 day moving average of $51.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackLine from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of BlackLine in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackLine from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of BlackLine from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of BlackLine from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark Partin sold 5,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $299,344.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 226,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,022,732. This represents a 2.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Karole Morgan-Prager sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $550,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 113,865 shares in the company, valued at $6,262,575. This trade represents a 8.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,108 shares of company stock valued at $7,488,826 over the last three months. 9.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BlackLine

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BL. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in BlackLine by 1.6% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,539 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BlackLine by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,282,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $70,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in BlackLine in the third quarter valued at $713,000. Pier Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 1.3% during the third quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 151,726 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BlackLine during the third quarter worth about $1,099,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

BlackLine Company Profile

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.