Independent Advisor Alliance Cuts Stock Holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Independent Advisor Alliance decreased its position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,581 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,405 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Corning were worth $2,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 89,268 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Corning by 48.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Corning by 52.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $168,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Corning by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in Corning by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $6,565,000 after purchasing an additional 29,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on 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 insiders.

Corning Stock Up 1.0 %

GLW opened at $45.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.92 and its 200 day moving average is $47.45. The stock has a market cap of $38.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 193.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GLW shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays dropped their target price 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 upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

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.