Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Trims Stock Position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp reduced its position in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,036 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Corning were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Corning during the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,522,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Corning by 52.8% in 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 period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Corning by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,983,090 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,534,337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242,718 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Corning by 215.6% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,677,513 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $75,740,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,955 shares during the period. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Corning by 218.5% during the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,009,208 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $47,958,000 after acquiring an additional 692,366 shares during the period. 69.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GLW shares. HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays cut their price target on Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Corning Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GLW opened at $47.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. Corning Incorporated has a 12-month low of $30.72 and a 12-month high of $55.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.31.

Corning (NYSE:GLW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS 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 $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.10%.

Insider Transactions at Corning

In related news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $1,557,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 152,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,940,852.48. This trade represents a 16.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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. 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.