Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 93,544 Shares of BlackLine $BL

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) by 228.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 134,524 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,544 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.22% of BlackLine worth $7,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its stake in BlackLine by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 82,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,677,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackLine in the third quarter worth approximately $2,230,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackLine in the third quarter worth $1,101,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 340,177 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,261,000 after purchasing an additional 37,538 shares during the period. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackLine by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 690,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,639,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BlackLine from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of BlackLine from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BlackLine in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of BlackLine in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of BlackLine in a report on Friday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.83.

BlackLine Price Performance

NASDAQ BL opened at $47.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 42.36, a P/E/G ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. BlackLine has a 52-week low of $40.82 and a 52-week high of $66.02.

BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The firm had revenue of $178.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.11 million. BlackLine had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 14.51%. BlackLine’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. BlackLine has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.080-2.130 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.580-0.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackLine will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.