California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 62,606 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,471,524 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 62,606 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.41% of Corning worth $164,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of GLW stock opened at $45.91 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.84 and a 200-day moving average of $47.95. The company has a market cap of $39.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Corning Incorporated has a 52 week low of $30.72 and a 52 week high of $55.33.

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

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corning presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $1,557,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.