Choate Investment Advisors Acquires 477 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,236 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Corning were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GLW. Amundi increased its stake in Corning by 139.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,900,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $186,186,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268,436 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter worth $92,522,000. Appaloosa LP bought a new stake in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter worth $71,280,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Corning by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $168,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Corning by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,983,090 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,534,337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Corning Price Performance

NYSE GLW opened at $46.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $40.09 billion, a PE ratio of 80.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 52 week low of $30.72 and a 52 week high of $55.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.53.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 EPS 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 15.10%. Research analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GLW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC upgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Activity

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

Corning 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.