National Pension Service Reduces Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

National Pension Service lessened its stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,430,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 78,446 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.17% of Corning worth $67,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,736,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Corning by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,688 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Corning by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 329,279 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $15,647,000 after purchasing an additional 32,329 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Corning by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,312,541 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $109,892,000 after purchasing an additional 635,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its position in Corning by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 50,954 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 11,180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GLW shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Corning Stock Performance

NYSE:GLW opened at $48.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.91 billion, a PE ratio of 84.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33.

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

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corning 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.