Corning (NYSE:GLW) Upgraded by Hsbc Global Res to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Corning (NYSE:GLW) was upgraded by equities researchers at Hsbc Global Res from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

GLW has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corning has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $52.11 on Thursday. Corning has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $55.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 89.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.63.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share 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 15.01%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Corning will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of the company’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,085 shares of company stock worth $787,836. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GLW. FMR LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Corning by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,983,090 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,534,337,000 after buying an additional 1,242,718 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 215.6% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,677,513 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $75,740,000 after buying an additional 1,145,955 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 4,306.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,050,463 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $47,428,000 after buying an additional 1,026,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Corning by 14,556.8% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 881,019 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $39,778,000 after buying an additional 875,008 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

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.