Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,232 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,503 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GLW. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,892,946 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $85,468,000 after purchasing an additional 148,042 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 890,981 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $40,228,000 after purchasing an additional 12,451 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,079 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,940,000 after purchasing an additional 10,196 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corning in the 4th quarter worth about $694,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,587 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GLW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $52.00 target price on Corning in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.08.

Corning Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE GLW opened at $47.61 on Wednesday. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $34.33 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.50. The stock has a market cap of $40.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.09.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Corning’s payout ratio is presently 215.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Z. Zhang sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.91, for a total value of $375,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,610 shares in the company, valued at $450,805.10. This trade represents a 45.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 20,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $892,743.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.