Xponance Inc. Purchases 5,010 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Xponance Inc. increased its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 112,517 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,010 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $5,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GLW. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Corning by 2.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Corning by 2.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,777 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Corning by 10.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 287,153 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $12,965,000 after purchasing an additional 26,364 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Corning in the third quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in Corning by 2.5% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 27,928 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $1,557,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the 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. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GLW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Corning from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC upgraded 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

Corning Price Performance

Shares of GLW stock opened at $48.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.20, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.86 and its 200 day moving average is $47.62. Corning Incorporated has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $55.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. Research analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

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.