Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Holdings in BlackLine $BL

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) by 74.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 175,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 515,000 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackLine were worth $6,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its holdings in BlackLine by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 2,428,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,278,000 after acquiring an additional 340,606 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BlackLine in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,787,000. Engaged Capital LLC lifted its position in BlackLine by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 1,083,619 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,913,000 after purchasing an additional 629,825 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of BlackLine by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,078 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,776,000 after purchasing an additional 23,943 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of BlackLine by 5.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 513,891 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,699 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

BlackLine Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ BL opened at $30.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.53 and a 200 day moving average of $37.03. BlackLine has a 1 year low of $24.70 and a 1 year high of $59.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.98 and a beta of 0.66.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $183.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.00 million. BlackLine had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 18.86%. BlackLine’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. BlackLine has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.420-2.530 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.570-0.590 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackLine will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BlackLine

In related news, Director Gregory Hughes sold 1,637 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.25, for a total transaction of $49,519.25. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,588.75. This trade represents a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mika Yamamoto sold 3,000 shares of BlackLine stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $85,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,388.16. The trade was a 15.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on BL shares. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on BlackLine from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on BlackLine from $68.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of BlackLine from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of BlackLine in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackLine presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

BlackLine Company 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.