DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,251,510 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 168,941 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Corning were worth $59,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Corning by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,139,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Corning by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in Corning by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its stake in Corning by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Corning by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 19,581 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of Corning stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Corning Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $46.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $49.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.87. The company has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 1 year low of $30.72 and a 1 year high of $55.33. 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 (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 193.10%.

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.