Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 79,029 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 56.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,868 shares of the company's stock after selling 79,029 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Ball were worth $3,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 42,340 shares of the company's stock worth $2,108,000 after purchasing an additional 4,066 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $444,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 431,792 shares of the company's stock worth $21,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,559 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,065 shares of the company's stock worth $2,741,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ball Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE BALL traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $65.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,297,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,823,888. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $42.81 and a 1-year high of $67.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $64.84 and its 200 day moving average is $57.68. The firm has a market cap of $20.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.89.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ball had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BALL. TheStreet raised shares of Ball from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Ball from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $74.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ball to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.58.

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.