BlackLine price target raised to $50 from $46 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin raised the firm’s price target on BlackLine (BL) to $50 from $46 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm says Q1 results were better-than-feared. That said, the overall growth rate slowed to 6% year-over-year, which was the lowest in more than a decade for this accounting SaaS pioneer that was part of the IPO Class of 2016. Piper recommends small-cap growth investors remain on the sidelines despite increasing possibility that this $600M-plus ARR model with 25%-plus free cash flow margins could attract a financial buyer.