BlackLine Insiders Placed Bullish Bets Worth US$593.3k

It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in BlackLine, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BL) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for BlackLine

BlackLine Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Co-CEO & Chairman of the Board Owen Ryan for US$348k worth of shares, at about US$46.11 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$62.77. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 12.55k shares for US$593k. On the other hand they divested 8.60k shares, for US$480k. In total, BlackLine insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

BlackLine Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of BlackLine shares. In total, Independent Director Mika Yamamoto sold US$200k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Does BlackLine Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that BlackLine insiders own 7.6% of the company, worth about US$297m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The BlackLine Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. In contrast, they appear keener if you look at the last twelve months. And insider ownership remains quite considerable. So we're not too bothered by recent selling. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in BlackLine.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.