Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 31,112 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 403,497 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 31,112 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Corning were worth $19,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 258.4% in the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,883,000 after buying an additional 89,268 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 48.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,975,000 after buying an additional 62,514 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Corning by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after purchasing an additional 29,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GLW. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corning has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GLW opened at $51.46 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.61. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The firm has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 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, sell-side analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given 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 2.18%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total transaction of $435,722.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,085 shares of company stock worth $2,103,486 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.