LPL Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,107,368 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,768 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.13% of Corning worth $52,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Corning by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 39,225,452 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,771,029,000 after acquiring an additional 133,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Corning by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,983,090 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,534,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,718 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Corning by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,937,981 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $234,653,000 after purchasing an additional 84,905 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Corning by 139.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,900,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $186,186,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,436 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of GLW opened at $46.60 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.87. Corning Incorporated has a 1 year low of $30.72 and a 1 year high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the 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 owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.