Blue Trust Inc. Sells 5,666 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,889 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 5,666 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GLW. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Corning during the 3rd quarter valued at $214,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Corning by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,316 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Corning by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 80,776 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,647,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Corning by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,910 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in Corning by 114.4% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 12,469 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of Corning 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,085 shares of company stock worth $2,345,436. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GLW shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Corning Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GLW opened at $52.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $45.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.26.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is currently 193.11%.

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.