Engaged Capital LLC Takes $33.62 Million Position in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL)

Engaged Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackLine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 609,713 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,620,000. BlackLine accounts for 5.5% of Engaged Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 13.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,306 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of BlackLine by 2.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,638 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BlackLine by 31.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of BlackLine by 2.4% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 25,800 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of BlackLine during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

BlackLine Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of BL opened at $61.88 on Friday. BlackLine, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.37 and a 1 year high of $69.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.14, a P/E/G ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on BlackLine from $72.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackLine from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of BlackLine from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on BlackLine from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BlackLine from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.10.

Insider Activity at BlackLine

In related news, CFO Mark Partin sold 5,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $299,344.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 226,844 shares in the company, valued at $12,022,732. This represents a 2.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karole Morgan-Prager sold 27,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total transaction of $1,626,364.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 113,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,838,731.90. The trade was a 19.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,108 shares of company stock valued at $7,488,826. Insiders own 9.93% of the company’s stock.

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.