Allstate Corp Buys Shares of 23,597 Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,597 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,121,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GLW. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Corning by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,139,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in Corning by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its stake in Corning by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Corning by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 19,581 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Corning Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GLW opened at $45.91 on Monday. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.84 and its 200-day moving average is $47.95. The company has a market cap of $39.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week high of $55.33.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. 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.