Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Stock Holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,923 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 729 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Corning were worth $2,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLW. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Corning by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Corning during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Corning by 202.4% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Corning by 171.8% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 810 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $1,557,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John P. Bayne, Jr. sold 8,876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 valued at $2,103,486 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on 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 boosted their price target on Corning from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Corning from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Corning from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Corning Stock Performance

NYSE GLW opened at $51.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.72, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $55.33. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.92 and a 200 day moving average of $46.65.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 193.11%.

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.