Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) Shares Down 8.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Backblaze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLZE) dropped 8.6% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $8.01 and last traded at $8.03. Approximately 864,475 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 2,166,669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLZE. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Backblaze from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Backblaze from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 10th. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Backblaze from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Backblaze from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Backblaze in a research note on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.57.

Backblaze Stock Down 8.6%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.35. The stock has a market cap of $507.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.80 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82.

Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.04. Backblaze had a negative return on equity of 13.34% and a negative net margin of 11.47%. The company had revenue of $46.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.59 million. Equities analysts forecast that Backblaze, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Marc Suidan sold 2,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total transaction of $33,380.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 349,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,529,374.76. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Gleb Budman sold 12,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total value of $203,366.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,192,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,679,069.46. This trade represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Backblaze by 152.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 312,459 shares during the period. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Backblaze by 176.7% during the third quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 1,266,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,717,000 after purchasing an additional 808,668 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Backblaze by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,172,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,046,000 after buying an additional 361,905 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Backblaze by 385.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 155,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after buying an additional 123,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Backblaze in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,074,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.03% of the company’s stock.

Backblaze Company Profile

Backblaze, Inc. provides cloud storage and data-protection services for individuals and businesses. Its offerings include Backblaze Computer Backup, which backs up files from computers, and Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, an object-storage service used to store and manage data. Founded in 2007, the company serves customers around the world through its cloud platform. B2 Cloud Storage supports integrations with a range of software and storage tools, while the company’s backup services are designed to help customers protect and restore data.