Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,179 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,415 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,179 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Corning by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 79,184 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Corning by 48.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Corning by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 27,439 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. DSC Meridian Capital LP lifted its stake in Corning by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. DSC Meridian Capital LP now owns 12,876 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 34,480 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 13,257 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GLW. StockNews.com cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC upgraded 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. Four equities 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of Corning stock opened at $45.56 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $49.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.43. Corning Incorporated has a 1-year low of $30.72 and a 1-year high of $55.33. The company has a market cap of $39.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.55, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 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.