First Merchants Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

First Merchants Corp reduced its holdings in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 93.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,758 shares of the company's stock after selling 576,447 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Ball were worth $2,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $190,105,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,861,000. London Co. of Virginia raised its stake in Ball by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,054,393 shares of the company's stock worth $168,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,668 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,310,000 after purchasing an additional 840,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ball by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,732,000 after buying an additional 803,728 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $57.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.68. Ball Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $68.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Ball's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.00.

Ball Profile

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.

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