Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Increases Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 196.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,033 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Corning were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in Corning by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 46,611 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 11,201 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Corning by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 70,154 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,334,000 after buying an additional 11,637 shares in the last quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Corning by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,300 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in Corning by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 79,922 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,798,000 after acquiring an additional 8,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Corning by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,256,300 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $59,674,000 after acquiring an additional 66,476 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of GLW opened at $45.91 on Monday. Corning Incorporated has a 1 year low of $30.72 and a 1 year high of $55.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.95. The company has a market capitalization of $39.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.16, a PEG ratio of 1.50 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 (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 193.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GLW shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Corning currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

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.