Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,094 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Corning were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Corning by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,063 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,139,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Corning by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,170 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Corning by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal lifted its position in shares of Corning by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 10,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Corning by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 19,581 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GLW shares. HSBC upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Corning from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corning has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Corning Stock Up 1.3 %

GLW opened at $47.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 81.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $30.72 and a 52 week high of $55.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.31.

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

Corning Dividend Announcement

The business 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 2.38%. Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.10%.

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.