Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,706,368 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,343 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.54% of Ball worth $99,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 20,340,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,184,039,000 after acquiring an additional 136,629 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Ball by 66.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,830,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,294,000 after acquiring an additional 5,903,021 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Ball by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,979,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,145 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,700,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,473,000 after acquiring an additional 37,672 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ball by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,482,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,125,000 after acquiring an additional 291,961 shares during the period. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Trading Up 1.2 %

BALL opened at $52.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.85. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $42.81 and a 52 week high of $62.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 41.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Credit Suisse Group cut Ball from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Ball from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ball from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ball from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of Ball stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $26,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,001 shares in the company, valued at $634,252.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of Ball stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $26,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,001 shares in the company, valued at $634,252.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of Ball stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total value of $200,206.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,861 shares in the company, valued at $464,405.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Ball Profile

Ball Corp. provides metal packaging for beverages, foods, and household products. It operates through the following business segments: Beverage Packaging North and Central America, Beverage Packaging South America, Beverage Packaging Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Aerospace. The Beverage Packaging North and Central America segment includes multi-year supply contracts to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.