Sheets Smith Wealth Management Purchases Shares of 4,350 Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,350 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GLW. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Corning by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,295 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corning during the 4th quarter valued at about $389,000. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Corning by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 26,593 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Corning by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,638 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Corning by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,819 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In related news, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total value of $435,722.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.39, for a total transaction of $241,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $324,213. This trade represents a 42.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GLW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.31.

Corning Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $54.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a PE ratio of 317.69, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.04. Corning Incorporated has a twelve month low of $30.30 and a twelve month high of $54.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.25.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Corning had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 1.24%. Corning’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning 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.