Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,094 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 202.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on GLW shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. HSBC upgraded shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, 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. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Corning presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Corning Price Performance

GLW stock opened at $47.12 on Thursday. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week high of $55.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.23, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.31. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.