Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $404,000 Stock Holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 73.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,511 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 23,101 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Corning by 258.4% in the 4th quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,883,000 after buying an additional 89,268 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Corning by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 191,648 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,975,000 after purchasing an additional 62,514 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 worth $168,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake 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 worth $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of Corning by 27.5% during the 4th 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 and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on GLW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of Corning stock opened at $45.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.28. The company has a market cap of $39.31 billion, a PE ratio of 79.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s payout ratio is 193.10%.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.