Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 400 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 2.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,651 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Corning were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Corning during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GLW. Mizuho set a $52.00 target price on Corning in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Corning from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Corning from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Corning from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.08.

Corning Stock Down 2.5%

GLW stock opened at $49.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.77. Corning Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $37.05 and a fifty-two week high of $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.11.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. Corning had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 3.86%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stefan Becker sold 17,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.68, for a total transaction of $849,826.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,692.56. This represents a 51.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Z. Zhang sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.91, for a total value of $375,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $450,805.10. This represents a 45.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,632,635. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.