DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 168,941 Shares of Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,251,510 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 168,941 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS owned 0.15% of Corning worth $59,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corning by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Corning in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Corning during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Corning by 202.4% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 747 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corning news, SVP Michael Alan Bell sold 2,209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $110,162.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric S. Musser sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 152,944 shares in the company, valued at $7,940,852.48. The trade was a 16.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corning Stock Performance

Shares of GLW stock opened at $46.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.35, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.03. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $49.92 and its 200 day moving average is $47.87.

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 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Corning Incorporated will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corning Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Corning’s payout ratio is currently 193.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GLW shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Corning from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Corning from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Corning from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corning has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

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.