Backblaze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLZE) Short Interest Update

Backblaze, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLZE) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,210,311 shares, an increase of 135.5% from the August 15th total of 1,787,453 shares. Currently, 7.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,266,036 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Backblaze

In other Backblaze news, CFO Marc Suidan sold 2,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.82, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,529,374.76. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 firm’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 transaction of $203,366.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,192,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,679,069.46. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their position. 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. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Backblaze by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Backblaze during the second quarter worth $77,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Backblaze during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Backblaze in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of Backblaze in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 54.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLZE. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Backblaze from $16.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Backblaze in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Backblaze in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Backblaze in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Backblaze from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.71.

Backblaze Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:BLZE traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.89. The company had a trading volume of 434,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,137,345. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Backblaze has a one year low of $3.26 and a one year high of $23.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.57. The company has a market capitalization of $798.20 million, a PE ratio of -37.95 and a beta of 1.56.

Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.06. Backblaze had a negative net margin of 13.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.73%. The business had revenue of $42.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.94 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Backblaze will post -0.28 EPS for the current year.

About Backblaze

Backblaze, Inc provides cloud storage and data backup services for businesses, developers and individual users. Its platform is designed to help customers store, protect, manage and recover data through scalable cloud-based infrastructure.

The company’s principal offerings include Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, an object-storage service used for applications, content distribution, backup, archiving and disaster recovery, and Backblaze Computer Backup, which helps individuals and organizations back up data from computers.