CoreFirst Bank & Trust Purchases New Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,711 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Corning by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 202.4% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Corning

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Corning Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE GLW opened at $49.88 on Tuesday. Corning Incorporated has a 12 month low of $30.72 and a 12 month high of $55.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a PE ratio of 85.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 193.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.31.

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.