Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Shares Sold by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC decreased its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 68.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,119 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 57,977 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GLW. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Corning by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,312,779 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $953,474,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597,878 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Corning by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,722,106 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $296,054,000 after acquiring an additional 146,807 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $247,721,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Corning by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,179,283 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $218,609,000 after acquiring an additional 105,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Corning by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,212,356 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $189,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lewis A. Steverson sold 29,978 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.05, for a total transaction of $990,772.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,294 shares in the company, valued at $1,034,266.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Martin J. Curran sold 16,416 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total transaction of $553,219.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 65,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,210,652.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lewis A. Steverson sold 29,978 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.05, for a total value of $990,772.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,034,266.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 175,207 shares of company stock worth $5,876,067 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GLW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Corning from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on Corning from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Corning from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Corning from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $37.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Corning from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.38.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GLW traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.85. The company had a trading volume of 7,690,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,234,449. The stock has a market cap of $36.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.35, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.05. Corning Incorporated has a 12 month low of $25.26 and a 12 month high of $46.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.91.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The electronics maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 4.96%. The business’s revenue was down 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. Corning’s payout ratio is 157.75%.

Corning Company Profile

Corning Incorporated engages in the display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes that are used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices.