900 Shares in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) Acquired by VSM Wealth Advisory LLC

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 900 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Corning by 2.6% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 10,665 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 2.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,777 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corning by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 287,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $12,965,000 after buying an additional 26,364 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corning in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $106,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Corning by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 27,928 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Corning Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of Corning stock opened at $48.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 84.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.62. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Corning’s payout ratio is 193.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC raised Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

Insider Activity

In other Corning news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

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.