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

Backblaze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLZE) shares traded down 8.6% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $8.01 and last traded at $8.03. Approximately 864,475 shares changed 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Backblaze in a report on Tuesday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Backblaze in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Backblaze in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Backblaze in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Backblaze from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Backblaze has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.57.

Backblaze Trading Down 11.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82. The firm has a market cap of $489.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.97 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.18 and a 200 day moving average of $9.36.

Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $46.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.59 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Backblaze, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Backblaze

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Backblaze by 152.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 517,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 312,459 shares during the last quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Backblaze by 176.7% in the 3rd quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 1,266,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,717,000 after acquiring an additional 808,668 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 123,382 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Backblaze by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,172,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,046,000 after purchasing an additional 361,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Backblaze in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,074,000. 54.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Backblaze

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.