Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,694 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,161 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GLW. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Corning during the 3rd quarter valued at $106,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Corning by 52.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,723,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $168,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,836 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in Corning during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,939,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Corning by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,944 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Corning by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 27,824 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. 69.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Corning

In other news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of Corning 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 $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Corning Price Performance

Corning stock opened at $45.91 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.84 and a 200-day moving average of $47.90. Corning Incorporated has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.16, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GLW. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.31.

Corning Company 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.