Optiver Holding B.V. Makes New Investment in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,691 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $128,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Corning by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 59,953 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $603,000. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC purchased a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $3,166,000. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Corning

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GLW. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. HSBC upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note 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. Finally, Mizuho set a $52.00 target price on Corning in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.31.

Corning Stock Down 0.3 %

Corning stock opened at $44.06 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $31.37 and a 1-year high of $55.33. The company has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a PE ratio of 75.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.60.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 2.54%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.