South Dakota Investment Council Has $435,000 Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its holdings in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 80.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,147 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 36,507 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Corning were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Corning by 258.4% during the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,883,000 after purchasing an additional 89,268 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Corning by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,975,000 after purchasing an additional 62,514 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $168,095,000 after buying an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Corning by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after buying an additional 16,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Corning by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $6,565,000 after buying an additional 29,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GLW. HSBC upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of GLW opened at $50.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.50 billion, a PE ratio of 87.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.97 and its 200-day moving average is $46.86. Corning Incorporated has a 12 month low of $30.72 and a 12 month high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Corning’s payout ratio is 193.10%.

About Corning

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.