Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,077 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 14,292 shares during the quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $6,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Corning by 258.4% during the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,883,000 after purchasing an additional 89,268 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Corning by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,975,000 after acquiring an additional 62,514 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Corning by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $168,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Corning by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after acquiring an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its position in Corning by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $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 Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GLW. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of Corning in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Corning presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.39, for a total transaction of $241,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,213. The trade was a 42.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,345,436. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corning Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of GLW opened at $52.99 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.36, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a one year low of $30.72 and a one year high of $55.33.

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

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.