Allstate Corp Acquires Shares of 23,597 Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 23,597 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,121,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Corning by 258.4% during the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 123,808 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,883,000 after acquiring an additional 89,268 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Corning by 48.4% in 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 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 worth $168,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,836 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Corning by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 111,448 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Corning by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 138,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after buying an additional 29,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. HSBC raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.31.

Corning Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $45.91 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.95. 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 market capitalization of $39.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. On average, analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 193.10%.

Insider Activity at Corning

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction on 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.