Vanguard Group Inc. Has $4.75 Billion Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 99,903,247 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 916,528 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Corning worth $4,747,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Corning by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 7,488 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter worth $262,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,107,368 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $52,622,000 after buying an additional 19,768 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter valued at about $852,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $2,575,000. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.31.

Corning Stock Up 2.8 %

GLW stock opened at $49.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.98 and a 200-day moving average of $47.78. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The company has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.99, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its 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 net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 15.10%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In related news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the 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 owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning 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. Corporate insiders own 0.40% 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.